Earth ChangesS


Attention

Diver dead after shark attack near the Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Great white shark
A commercial diver is dead after a shark attack near the Chatham Islands.

A police spokesperson confirmed a man died in hospital after being attacked by a shark in the islands on Tuesday.

"Emergency services were called around midday, following reports the man - who had been diving off a boat - had been critically injured. He was rushed to Chatham Island Hospital, but has since died," the spokesperson said.

His death has been referred to the coroner.

Multiple sources have told Stuff the victim is a local commercial diver who is aged in his 20s.

After the attack, he was brought to Waitangi Wharf, before being rushed to hospital.

A St John spokesperson confirmed it sent one ambulance to the scene, and referred further inquiries to police.

Comment: See also:


Doberman

Woman killed by her own pit bull in Boston was "heart and soul" of family

PIT BULL ATTACK
The woman who was attacked and killed by her own dog in Boston Monday night has been identified as Jeriline Brady-McGinnis. She was 73 years old.

Brady-McGinnis' landlord and close friend Jean McGuire first identified her as the victim on Tuesday shortly before police confirmed it.

McGuire, 93, is a civil rights pioneer and the first Black woman elected to the Boston School Committee. McGuire said Brady-McGinnis was like a "sister" to her and that they had known each other for years.


Attention

Fin whale nearly 50 feet long washes ashore on Anchorage tidal flats in Alaska

People ventured onto the frozen
© Bill Roth / ADNPeople ventured onto the frozen mudflats on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, to see a Fin whale that came to rest at Fish Creek near Anchorage.
A 47-foot fin whale washed ashore along Anchorage's coastal trail over the weekend. Hundreds of people ventured out onto tidal flats Sunday to take a look at the carcass in the sun.

The first reports of the animal came to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Saturday before 10 p.m., said Barbara Mahoney, a NOAA biologist. On Sunday, Mahoney and other scientists examined the carcass, taking measurements, collecting skin samples and anchoring it down so they can continue their analysis on Monday.

"We don't know what happened to it," Mahoney said. "They follow food, but I am not sure what it was following this time of year."

Fin whales, which are classified as endangered, migrate worldwide and summer as far up north as the Chukchi Sea. Mahoney said that the species can be found in lower Cook Inlet and are fairly uncommon in the Knik Arm, but at least a couple of them have washed up in Southcentral Alaska.

"We've had a few," Mahoney said. "This is the first time I've had one on this beach."


Tsunami

Submerged in tidal flood waters for 5 days, residents began to suffer from disease in Jakarta, Indonesia

The standing water, which has been going on for five consecutive days, shows a trend that is increasingly widespread and is causing concern among local residents.
The standing water, which has been going on for five consecutive days, shows a trend that is increasingly widespread and is causing concern among local residents.
Tidal floods are still inundating the Muara Angke Penjaringan area, North Jakarta, Tuesday (19/11). The tidal flood has been going on for 5 days.

Some residents are still staying in their homes and fleeing if the water starts to rise. Residents admitted that they had just received rice boxes from the sub-district and were now starting to need clean water and medicine.

Meanwhile, BPBD DKI Jakarta warned of the potential for coastal flooding (rob) on 14-21 November 2024 in 10 coastal areas north of Jakarta.


Tsunami

Parts of Hong Kong flood as severe Tropical Storm Man-yi nears

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Coastal areas and riverbanks in Hong Kong flooded on Monday, as an approaching Severe Tropical Storm Man-yi and a spring tide helped push up sea levels.

In Tai O on Lantau Island, residents waded through ankle-deep waters at the main market and elsewhere, while sandbags were stacked around homes to keep the flooding at bay.

The impact extended to other areas, with flooding seen along the Shing Mun River in Sha Tin, where about 10cm (4 inches) of water covered popular cycling tracks.

Similar conditions were observed near the Lam Tsuen River in Tai Po and the Sam Ka Tsuen seafood bazaar in Lei Yue Mun, a blackspot of flooding, where waters rose nearly to people's knees.

A pedestrian tunnel was nearly half submerged in Tai Po.

The Observatory earlier warned that the spring tide and combined effects of the northeast monsoon and Man-yi could result in sea levels rising to 3.3 metres (10.3 feet) above chart datum at around 10pm.


Tsunami

Tropical Storm Sara brings devastating floods to western Belize - Mopan River water levels 18-FEET higher than normal

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Tonight, dozens of residents in western Belize are grappling with flood waters, blocked streets and inundated yards, brought on by Tropical Storm Sara's persistent rains this weekend. The storm began producing rain over the country on Friday and by Sunday when it made landfall, the dams were overflowing, the rivers had broken its banks, and dry lands were covered in flood waters.

The storm brought several inches of rainfall, particularly in the Cayo District, and impacted several communities along the Mopan and Macal Rivers.

The rising waters were so intense that many businesses and market vendors were forced to evacuate as well as several residents. Prime Minister John Briceno led a delegation of officials this morning for a flyover of the affected areas. Love News met up with him in San Ignacio Town where he spoke on his observations of the various areas.


Comment: BreakingBelizenews.com reports:
The Mopan River water levels 18-feet higher than normal has flooded the George Price Highway entrances to Benque Viejo del Carmen and San Jose Succotz, according to Benque Viejo del Carmen Mayor Jorge Antonio Rosales.



Attention

Terrifying moment rhino attacks motorcyclist in Nepal

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A motorcyclist in Nepal had to move fast when an unexpected obstacle stopped him in his tracks.

A huge rhinoceros charged from the side of the road and tried to attack the man.


Comment: 2 months prior: Biker dies after being attacked by rhino in Assam, India


Ice Cube

Antarctica Sea ice has "slowly increased" since 1979, science paper finds

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Sea ice around Antarctica has "slowly increased" since the start of continuous satellite recordings in 1979 with any changes caused by natural climate variation. In a paper published earlier this year, four environmental scientists further state that any sign that humans are responsible for any change is "inconclusive". Not of course for mainstream media that have been crying wolf about the sea ice in Antarctica for decades to promote the Net Zero fantasy. Last year there was a reduced level of winter sea ice and this caused the Financial Times Science Editor Clive Cookson to exclaim that the entire area "faces a catastrophic cascade of extreme environmental events... that will affect climate around the world".

Over the satellite record, the scientists note there was a "prolonged and gradual" expansion of sea ice to around 2014 followed by a short period of sudden decline from 2014-19. Growth was then resumed, although there was a temporary downturn around 2022. These variations, which can also be observed before 1979, were caused by a number of natural atmospheric and oceanic factors. All of this is known of course, with the EU weather service Copernicus admitting recently that sea ice extent as a whole "shows large year-to-year variability and no clear long-term trend since 1979". At the other end of the Earth, Copernicus correctly states that the cyclical decline in Arctic sea ice "has levelled off since 2007".

Tsunami

Heavy rainfall and flash flooding affects Dutch Caribbean Island of Sint Maarten

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Screengrab of flash flooding in Sint Maarten on November 17, 2024.
A flood alert is in effect for the Dutch Caribbean Island of Sint Maarten until noon on Monday, with some parts of the island already experiencing flash flooding due to heavy rainfall.

The Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure this afternoon confirmed severe street flooding and rockfalls on the road network.

The Ministry said it has temporarily opened the Great Bay Fresh Pond channel. This decision was made to reduce Pond Levels as part of its water management effort, aimed at preventing hazardous water levels in the Salt and Fresh Pond.

The Ministry strongly discourages any water-related activities, including boating, swimming and fishing until further notice.

The Meteorological Department of St Maarten on Sunday said moist and unstable conditions persist as a trough continues to affect the region.


Arrow Down

White Smokers - Sinkhole sentinels discovered in the Dead Sea

MMMMM
Scientists have identified mineral formations on the floor of the Dead Sea that could warn of oncoming sinkholes. These 'chimneys' are usually about one meter (3.28 feet) in height, and they form as minerals spontaneously crystalize from the groundwater that flows out of the floor of the lake, bringing extremely high levels of salt with it. These vents were shown to be an indicator of sinkholes, which are a hazard to the communities that live around the Dead Sea. These findings have been reported in Science of the Total Environment.

"These bear a striking similarity to black smokers in the deep sea, but the system is completely different," said Dr. Christian Siebert, a hydrogeologist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). Siebert has been studying groundwater dynamics in the region for many years.

The black smokers on mid-ocean ridges are at a depth of several thousand meters, and release hot water that contains sulfides. But extremely salty water is coming from the white smokers on the bottom of the Dead Sea.