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Attention

Anthrax kills at least 42 hippos in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania


Xinhua
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 14:22 UTC
hippos
An outbreak of anthrax has killed at least 42 hippopotami in south-central Tanzania's famed Ruaha National Park, authorities said on Monday.

Christopher Timbuka, Ruaha Chief Park Warden said earlier investigation show the wild animals were killed by anthrax, an infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthraces.

According to the official, a survey carried between August and early September, this year, shows that death cases were found in three key areas, which are popular for hosting hippos in the sanctuary.

"This is the largest number of hippos to have been killed in the park by the disease," Timbuka said, adding: "We've already sent samples of the dead hippos to the Chief Government Chemist Laboratory Agency for more investigation."

He cited an acute water shortage in Great Ruaha River as one of the factors for an outbreak of the disease in the sanctuary.
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Snowflake

Unseasonal snowfall continues at alpine resorts in Victoria, Australia

Sophie Boyd
The Border Mail
Thu, 14 Sep 2017 10:10 UTC
Another icy winter blast at Falls Creek on Thursday, in the midst of spring.
© Chris Hocking
Another icy winter blast at Falls Creek on Thursday, in the midst of spring.
Traditional springtime weather is yet to reach the snowfields, with snow still falling across alpine resorts.

About 30 centimetres of snow was predicted across Thursday, Friday and into Saturday at Falls Creek.

The resort received eight centimetres in 24 hours before Thursday, with average snow depths of 190cm.

Mount Hotham received 15 cm in the 24 hours before Thursday morning with natural snow depths of 175 cm.
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Bizarro Earth

Evidence of volcanic eruptions under Antarctic Ice

Ross Pomeroy
Real Clear Science
Thu, 14 Sep 2017 06:47 UTC
Ice Berg
© AP Photo/NASA
In August, researchers at Edinburgh University announced that frigid West Antarctica is home to at least 138 volcanoes, all concealed within an ice sheet that's up to two kilometers thick in some places!

The finding left Robert Bingham, one of the study's authors, with an urgent question.

"The big question is: how active are these volcanoes? That is something we need to determine as quickly as possible," he told The Guardian.

"If one of these volcanoes were to erupt it could further destabilise west Antarctica's ice sheets. Anything that causes the melting of ice - which an eruption certainly would - is likely to speed up the flow of ice into the sea."

Luckily, Bingham didn't need to wait long for an answer. A team of scientists from New Mexico Tech, Dartmouth College, and Vermont Technical College has uncovered evidence of volcanic eruptions in ice cores taken from the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS). A paper describing their findings has just been published in Scientific Reports.
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Cloud Precipitation

Record rainfall as typhoon Talim batters southern Japanese islands


The Straits Times
Thu, 14 Sep 2017 01:33 UTC
Typhoon Talim hits Japan
© EPA
Typhoon Talim brought sporadic wind and showers to Taipei on Wednesday (Sept 13). It has now shifted north and will not make landfall in Taiwan, although the capital and other cities can expect heavy rain from the storm.
A strong typhoon lashed islands in southern Japan Thursday, packing gusts of up to 252 kmph and leaving thousands without power as it headed towards the mainland.

Authorities warned of landslides and high waves as Typhoon Talim battered the southern Okinawan island chain, dumping the most rain seen over a 24-hour period in 50 years on the city of Miyako.

According to Okinawa Electric Power, more than 18,000 homes were without power in Miyako, a city of around 54,000 people some 1,840 km southwest of Tokyo.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said the typhoon was expected to approach the Kyushu island by early Sunday.

Local media said it was poised to cross Japan's mainland - which includes Tokyo - on Monday. Big storms regularly strike Japan, with 22 people killed when Typhoon Lionrock pounded the country last September.

Last month, Typhoon Noru killed two and injured 51.
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Sun

Sparkling sun halo seen over central Queensland

Andrew Thorpe
The Observer
Sun, 10 Sep 2017 09:57 UTC
Sun halo over Agnes
© Ruth Geck
Agnes & 1770 residents were left marveling at a strange weather pattern which formed a "halo" around the sun over the Discovery Coast yesterday.

Ruth Geck took these photos and shared them on Facebook, prompting excited reactions from others who had seen the phenomenon.

Some blamed it on "geo-engineering" - but meteorologist Annabelle Ford, from the Bureau of Meteorology's Brisbane office, confirmed it was an entirely natural effect.

"This is a good example of a 'halo'," Ms Ford told The Observer after seeing the pictures.
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Cloud Lightning

San Francisco sees 1,200 lightning strikes in rare September thunderstorms

Alix Martichoux
SFGate
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 16:45 UTC
lightning San Francisco
© Instagram / Lacey_bannister
Updated on September 12 at 7:20 a.m.: The National Weather Service reported Tuesday morning that 1,200 cloud-to-ground strikes and 5,800 in-cloud strikes hit the Bay Area Monday night.

"You can see both," says Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey. "Both are just as dangerous."

It started with strong wind gusts between 35 and 50 mph that roared through Monterey County and parts of the South Bay in the early morning hours. Later in the day, temperatures climbed to the 90s in San Jose and the high 80s in San Francisco.

Then came the rain, thunder, and lightning. The National Weather Service tweeted out that the Bay Area saw more than 800 lightning strikes and cloud flashes between noon and 5 p.m.

Comment:

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Snowflake

Molltal Glacier in Austrian Alps receives 7 inches of September snow overnight

Patrick Thorne
In the snow
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 17:51 UTC
Molltal Glacier

Molltal Glacier
Austria's Molltal Glacier has reported 20cm of fresh snowfall overnight and this morning has blue skies for perfect powder conditions for the last week of summer 2017.

The Molltal (pictured top at 8.30am this morning) is one of seven glacier ski areas currently open in the Alps and Scandinavia, most of which have received good snowfalls over the first two weekends of September, with more forecast for the coming few days.

It's very good news after the long hot summer in the Alps when most of the old snow cover on Europe's glaciers was melted away and the Molltal was one of two centres that had to temporarily close in late August due to lack of snow.

The most recent snow has been falling down to lower elevations (2000m)

Three more glacier ski areas - the Stubai and Pitztal glaciers in Austria and Val Senales in Italy - are due to open for their 2017-18 ski seasons later this week. Solden opened last weekend.
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Snowflake

Communities west of Edmonton near Alberta Rockies hit with first snowfall


CBC News
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 17:35 UTC
sNOW Near Hinton
Winter is coming.

Communities along the edge of the Alberta Rockies were walloped with the first snowfall of the season Wednesday.

After periods of drizzling rain, snow began falling over sections of the Icefields Parkway mid-morning.

Between five and 10 millimetres of precipitation is expected to fall in Jasper throughout the day, according to the latest forecast from Environment Canada.

The Hinton area has also been buried in a small dump of wet snow. Photographs posted to social media suggest that area highways were slick.
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Attention

Hundreds of dead seabirds found on Bering Sea shores

Yereth Rosen
Alaska Dispatch News
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 14:51 UTC
A dead northern fulmar was found near Shishmaref on Aug. 13. Hundreds of dead birds have been found on the Western and Northwestern coasts of Alaska and in Bering Sea islands this year.
© Ken Stenek / Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team
A dead northern fulmar was found near Shishmaref on Aug. 13. Hundreds of dead birds have been found on the Western and Northwestern coasts of Alaska and in Bering Sea islands this year.
Hundreds of dead seabirds have been found washed ashore on sites from islands in the Bering Sea to villages north of the Bering Strait, signs of another large die-off in the warmed-up waters of the North Pacific Ocean.

The dead birds are mostly northern fulmars and short-tailed shearwaters, species that migrate long distances to spend summers in waters off Alaska and other northern regions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported. Also in the mix are some kittiwakes, murres and auklets, the federal agency said.

The cause is being investigated. Necropsies so far show that the birds are emaciated — with no food in their stomachs or intestines and little or no fat on their bodies.

"Right now, we know that they are starving to death and can't hold their heads above water, and they're drowning," said Ken Stenek, a teacher in Shishmaref and volunteer in a program that monitors seabirds.

The precise toll is unclear. Fish and Wildlife said in its bulletin about 800 dead birds had been found since early August, but surveys are continuing and the known toll appears to be mounting — and experts caution that birds washing ashore represent only a small fraction of the dead.
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Attention

Melting permafrost flowing like lava filmed on Tibetan Plateau


Live Leak
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 14:33 UTC
mudflow
Impressive footage has emerged of melting permafrost slowing churning up grassland on the Tibetan Plateau.

The video, filmed in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China's southwestern Qinghai Province on September 7, shows mud and grass being churned up in a process known as solifluction phenomenon.

It happens because permafrost is impermeable to water - any soil on top of it may become waterlogged and slide downslope due to gravity.

Several families and a farm were affected by the incident.

The farm has had to relocate.

      Read More...
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