Earth Changes

Firefighters save dog from sinkhole in Buffalo, New York

USA Today
Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:22 UTC

© AP
Firefighter Michael Paveljack, right, gets a kiss from Mack the dog he rescued from a sink hole in Buffalo, N.Y. Sunday Feb. 2, 2014.

A German shepherd is back on solid ground after being rescued from a sinkhole that opened up in a Buffalo park.

The 3-year-old dog dropped more than 10 feet to the bottom of the watery hole during a Sunday morning walk with his owner, Mattie Moore, who nearly fell in herself.

Buffalo firefighter Michael Paveljack said rescuers put plywood around the 2-foot hole to stabilize the ground, then widened the gap for the rescue. Paveljack climbed down a ladder and fashioned a makeshift harness from the dog's leash that allowed rescuers to hoist it from the hole.

Moore told The Buffalo News the dog has a sore hip but otherwise seems fine.

The sinkhole appears to have been caused by a broken underground water pipe that eroded the soil.

Source: The Associated Press.

What's killing trumpeter swans in Washington state?

Jeff Burnside
komonews.com
Fri, 07 Feb 2014 07:51 UTC

Majestic trumpeter swans, the largest of all waterfowl, whose wingspans can reach eight feet, are dying at a higher than normal rate in their winter haven in northern Puget Sound. And Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists think they know why.

They've counted 261 dead swans so far this winter in Whatcom County. That's about a 75 percent increase over the normal death rate in winter when their physical and environmental challenges are greatest.

"We believe and have some evidence that aspergililosis is playing a factor in the mortality," said state wildlife biologist Chris Danilson, while standing near a Skagit Valley field dotted with Trumpeter Swans and drenched in brilliant winter sunshine.

"It's a fungus that they'll usually pick up in the feed that they're eating," he said. "So a lot of times it's in the grains or corn, wastage in fields left over from the harvest. It can get moldy."

UK: Wet weather here to stay as jet stream blamed

Sky News
Fri, 07 Feb 2014 06:44 UTC

Forecasters have told Sky News the unsettled weather that has brought heavy rain, strong winds and flooding is set to remain until at least the middle of this month.

After that, conditions "may start to calm down and the second half of February could be slightly more settled", said a Met Office spokeswoman.

The relentless wet weather that has pummelled much of the UK for the past couple of months has been caused by a powerful jet stream, experts said.

It pushed an "exceptional" succession of low pressure systems across the Atlantic Ocean, as powerful winds and a deluge of rain struck the country, especially southwest England.

There have been a number of major winter storms during December and January and the Met Office said it was the relatively short time between each one that has led to major flooding.

It said: "It was their rapid succession, with further rain falling on already saturated ground that caused the significant flooding problems."

Stores close early as twin Winter storms sock U.S. Northwest

Gulfnews
Sat, 08 Feb 2014 00:40 UTC

© AP/Register-Guard/Chris Pletsch
Eugene, OR
Snow expected to turn to freezing rain in many areas

Northwest residents absorbed the second blow of a 1-2 winter punch Friday by taking a snow day and keeping their cars in the garage.

In downtown Portland, streets coated with a thin layer of packed snow were nearly traffic-free before the first flurries fell in the afternoon. Shops closed early or didn't open at all, office buildings generally packed with workers were quiet, and the city government was closed to all but essential personnel.

It was a similar scene throughout western Oregon and southwest Washington as the region awaited and then received its second winter storm in two days.

The storm was expected to drop a foot or more of snow in mountainous parts of southern Oregon and 2 to 8 inches in western Oregon valleys that got slammed Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The snow was expected to turn to freezing rain Friday night and Saturday in many areas. That will turn roadways icy and increase the possibility of downed power lines, forecasters warned.

The first storm dropped more than a foot of snow on parts of the Pacific Northwest and left one person dead in an Interstate 5 pileup in southwest Washington. It also closed schools and offices.

The new storm did not lead to any immediate reports of fatal crashes or massive traffic jams.

Storms cut power to 55,000 homes in western, northern France

RFI
Fri, 07 Feb 2014 00:00 UTC

Winds of up to 120 kilometres cut off power to some 55,000 households and rain flooded shops and homes in north and west France overnight Thursday. The storms, which started in mid-December, are set to continue for at least a week.

Coming on the heels of storm Petra, storm Qumaira has brought gale-force windsto 36 departments north of a diaganol from Charente-Maritime in the west to the Ardennes in the east.

Worst hit was Brittany, France's far west, which has suffered the worst effects of a series of storms for over a month.

There two towns, Quimper and Morlaix, were flooded with over 100 shops and dozens of homes affected by waters as high as 60 centimetres.

Thousands of homes suffered power cuts, 25,000 in the Loire, 12,000 in Normandy and 10,000 in the Paris region.

Apart from the flooding, damage to property was not as bad as expected, mostly limited to fallen trees blocking roads.

Ireland: Eight weeks of rain, now Atlantic storms

Irish Independent
Sat, 08 Feb 2014 00:00 UTC

Met Éireann has forecast gusts of 130 km and heavy and prolonged showers all weekend.

Coastal counties of Munster, Wexford and Galway are the areas most at risk of flooding today as gusty winds and heavy showers sweep across the country.

All parts will be subjected to widespread heavy and prolonged blustery showers with some thundery downpours.

Some areas of the country suffered minor flooding after last night's heavy showers.

There is some minor flooding on the Tramore Rd approaching Musgrave Park in Cork City.

In Co. Tipperary, many areas remain closed due to flooding including Convent Rd, Dry Bridge, Old Bridge and the Quays in Clonmel, with local diversions in place.

The Athlone Rd is closed until next Friday due to flooding at Anglers Rest.

Roads are very wet in Galway City and winds are quite strong but there have been no reports of any tress down or flooding.

There is a lot of excess surface water in and around Dungarvan in Co. Waterford but there are no reports of any flooding.

Winter storm for South, East next week could signal a pattern change

Alex Sosnowski
Accuweather
Sat, 08 Feb 2014 05:28 UTC

A large, slow-moving storm may affect the Southern and Eastern states next week with snow, ice and rain. However, the storm may ultimately be a pattern changer.

Into the first part of next week, dry air will work to inhibit snow in the Northern states, but in the South, a storm forecast to brew could cause major problems.

According to Southern Weather Expert Dan Kottlowski, "Lingering cold air and plenty of moisture could lead to an extended period of snow and ice in portions of the South next week."

The setup could bring a couple of days of precipitation over the Gulf Coast states to Tennessee

and the Carolinas. Some of that precipitation will fall as snow and ice over the interior.

"A number of communities over the interior South may have more significant, longer-lasting ice and snow when compared to the storm from late January," Kottlowski said.

The details will unfold over the next several days on exactly where and how long the snow, ice and rain will occur.

Heavy snow claims two lives in Japan

Press TV
Sat, 08 Feb 2014 04:46 UTC

© Unknown
Jetliners of Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) are parked covered in snow at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), February 8, 2014.

Heavy snow and severe weather in Japan have left at least two people dead and nearly 90 others injured.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday that nearly 90 people were wounded in snow-related accidents in eastern Japan. Seventeen of them, seriously.

Two passengers, aged 88 and 90, lost their lives in a car accident on their way to a nursing home in Ishikawa, central Japan, the broadcaster added.

Over 600 flights were canceled in the country as the weather agency issued a severe storm warning for the capital, Tokyo, which received as much as 12 centimeters (4.8 inches) of snow on Saturday afternoon.

Railway operators also temporarily suspended services of Shinkansen bullet trains in western Japan, the NHK said.

According to meteorological agency, a quickly developing low-pressure front is approaching eastern Japan.

More signs of global cooling? Sun's record weak polar field may forebode Maunder-like Minimum

P Gosselin
NoTricksZone
Fri, 07 Feb 2014 22:23 UTC

The Sun in January 2014 and News of the Sun's Polar Field
By Frank Bosse
(Translated, edited by P Gosselin)

Over the last month solar cycle 24 (SC24) has seen some rather brisk activity. The sunspot number (SSN) reached a value of 82.0, which however was only 77% of the normal value (106) for the 62nd month into a cycle. The southern hemisphere (SH) contributed to most of the overall result in January, outperforming the northern hemisphere (NH) 61:21. The following graphic depicts current activity (in red) and normal activity (in blue):

The figure also shows SC5 in light red. SC5 has some degree of similarity to the current cycle so far.

Ice Age Cometh: Great Lakes ice cover spreading rapidly - Lake Superior sets new record

Mark Torregrossa
mlive.com
Thu, 06 Feb 2014 15:52 UTC

Ice continued to build this past week on the Great Lakes due to the cold air and temperatures staying below freezing, and Lake Superior's new record shows it.

The lake is 92 percent frozen, toppling a 20-year-old record of 91 percent set on Feb. 5, 1994. That statistic helped total Great Lakes ice cover soar, and we can expect to see more form in coming days.

The air temperatures this past week averaged around five degrees below normal for the Great Lakes area. This amount of deviation from normal means it was a fairly cold week.

As of February 5, 2014, the entire Great Lakes system is now reportedly covered 77 percent with ice, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Last week at this time the ice cover was 66 percent. The 77 percent ice cover now still lags behind 1994, when the entire Great Lakes system had an average ice cover of 84 percent on February 5. This data is according to Jia Wang, physical oceanographer at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Center in Ann Arbor, MI.

Let's look at each individual lake.

Comment: Then again perhaps there will be no thaw and no normal spring.

Ehret an idiot beyond belief

smertzasmert

.. .. are wheel barrel sales are up too?

Jibrish

I doubt any pureblood would object to the "vaccinated" being masked, but if they (the "vaccinated") still feel unsafe then maybe their problem is...

HashAttack2

I said this would happen...now they are looking to mandate companies with less that 100 employees...shits getting real, people[Link]

Bezel Bub

it's all a lie ! :O

cracker

Earth Changes

Firefighters save dog from sinkhole in Buffalo, New York

What's killing trumpeter swans in Washington state?

UK: Wet weather here to stay as jet stream blamed

Stores close early as twin Winter storms sock U.S. Northwest

Storms cut power to 55,000 homes in western, northern France

Ireland: Eight weeks of rain, now Atlantic storms

Winter storm for South, East next week could signal a pattern change

Heavy snow claims two lives in Japan

More signs of global cooling? Sun's record weak polar field may forebode Maunder-like Minimum

Ice Age Cometh: Great Lakes ice cover spreading rapidly - Lake Superior sets new record

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