Earth Changes

Why is the USDA storing 700,000 vials of frozen sperm in Colorado?

Adam Clark
Gizmodo
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 14:40 UTC

When a drive through America's heartland showcases mile after mile of cow-filled field, it's easy to overlook the most sobering of all possibilities.

These wonderful delicious animals could all get wiped out one day, leaving the world burgerless and milk free. Don't worry. The USDA is on the case.

In Fort Collins, Colorado, there are currently some 700,000 "straws" of sperm from 18 different species of animals floating in liquid nitrogen in case some cataclysmic life-ending event happens.

And by life-ending we're talking less giant asteroid and more terrible plague of mad cow disease. (If the asteroid hit, we'd all be goners.)

The facility is part of the National Animal Germplasm Program and contains a vast array of different breeds, both common and rare. According to Modern Farmer magazine, it's possibly the largest semen repository in the world outside of China, whose collection remains a mystery to us.

Damage, injuries reported from flooding in Manitou Springs, Colorado

David Mitchell and Jeremy Hubbard
KDVR
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:15 UTC

Flooding in Manitou Springs, Colo. August 9, 2013

Heavy rain brought flooding, mudslides and damage to the Manitou Springs area Friday evening.

There were three people hurt and one unconfirmed report of a missing person according to the Manitou Springs police chief.

There was damage to homes and businesses along Canon Ave. Streets were closed in the Canon Avenue area and western Manitou Springs.

Police told people to stay away from the town Friday night.

The Waldo Canyon burn zone received about 1.5 inches of rain in a very short period of time.

The muddy floodwaters - swelling Fountain Creek out of its banks in downtown Manitou Springs Friday night.

Off in the distance - the patio of a restaurant - Adam's Mountain Cafe suffered major damage from the messy runoff.

Video posted to Facebook shows banged-up cars, covered in mud and debris, surrounded by the flash flood.

One picture showed a truck and an SUV tossed against each other by the raging water.

Halesowen residents driven to distraction by "mystery sound"

Halesowen News
Mon, 05 Aug 2013 19:49 UTC

Mystified residents in Halesowen are being driven to distraction by a loud banging noise every 30 minutes for 12 hours a day.

As well as annoying human residents around Manor Way the constant loud bangs are disturbing pets and wildlife throughout the day.

David Taylor contacted the Halesowen News after being unable to find out what was making the din which the police were unable to shed light on.

He said: "Residents who live close to Manor Way are being plagued by mysterious 'explosions' from 8am until 9.30pm every day.

"The sounds, which sound like gun fire, occur every 20-30 minutes for over 12 hours every day, and no one seems to know what causes them."

"In the hot weather, it means that residents in the Brier Mill Road, Chadbury Road and Cloister Drive area of Halesowen are unable to sit outside and enjoy the weather in peace and local pets and wildlife are also disturbed by the sounds."

Rare sprite lightning discharge caught on camera

Geekquinox
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:28 UTC

Have you ever seen a sprite?

I'm not talking about the mythological creature or the soft drink, now. I'm referring to rare flashes of lightning that happen high above storm clouds.

The normal kind of lightning that we see is usually inside storm clouds or between the clouds and the ground. Just like we talk about positive and negative charge when dealing with electricity, a lightning bolt can be positive or negative. When a rare positive lightning bolt arcs between the cloud and the ground, this discharge also sets off a sprite above the cloud.

Why so many wildfires? Half of U.S. is a hot, bone-dry burn zone

Michael Snyder
Endoftheamericandream.com
Mon, 01 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC

Did you know that 8 of the 9 worst years for wildfires ever recorded have all been since the year 2000? The western half of the United States just keeps getting hotter and drier, and this is creating ideal conditions for wildfires. The furious wildfire that took the lives of 19 brave firefighters in Yarnell, Arizona on Sunday is just one example of this. That wildfire has already consumed more than 200 buildings in the town of Yarnell, and it now spans nearly 9,000 acres even though more than 400 firefighters are battling it. High winds, record setting heat and bone dry conditions have created a "perfect storm" that firefighters are having a very difficult time contending with. Unfortunately, scientists tell us that things may continue to get even worse for the western half of the country. Most of the territory between the Mississippi River and the west coast seems to be steadily getting drier, and that means it is rapidly being transformed into an intensely hot, bone dry burn zone.

Comment: Drought is certainly one factor, but then, what's causing the extreme drought?

Reign of Fire: Meteorites, Wildfires, Planetary Chaos and the Sixth Extinction

State of emergency as serious flooding hits the Amur Region amid concerns over dam

Anna Liesowska
The Siberian Times
Wed, 07 Aug 2013 15:53 UTC

Warnings of worse rain for the rest of the week came on Wednesday as evacuation of 30 settlements was planned by the authorities.

© Anik, Mail.ru forum
The flood situation may worsen in next few days, but it is not disastrous, according to Alexander Frolov, head of the Russian weather forecasting service Roshydromet.

The key focal point is the giant dam of the Zeiskaya hydropower plant in the Russian Far East which officials insisted was not under threat. Amid concerns over a large water discharge, a plan to evacuate 30 settlements was drawn up.

'The situation is getting worse, we received a letter from the 'Zeya' hydropower plant over a larger water discharge from the hydropower plant and decided to evacuate people according to the worst scenario of development,' said Governor of the Amur region Oleg Kozhemyako.

Meanwhile there were also assurances that the situation was not critical at the dam.

'The Zeiskaya hydropower plant is under our constant oversight, there is no threat to its dam," said an official from the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight.

Wildfires heat up the Arctic as climate change frazzles the north of Siberia

The Siberian Times
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 10:49 UTC

© NASA
'The fires are burning in an unusual area. Most summer wildfires in Siberia occur south of the 57 degrees North latitude line, along the southern edge of the taiga. The July 2013 fires are significantly north of that, raging in woodlands near the 65 degrees North line'.

This unique summer for Northern Siberians brings Mediterranean temperatures but also 'out of control' blazes. Norilsk - one of Russia's coldest cities - basked in temperatures of 33C, as locals stripped off to catch a genuine Arctic tan, as we reported earlier.

As NASA noted, the cause was a 'blocking high' - a persistent high pressure weather pattern over the Russian Arctic.

For a few glorious summer days, the temperatures doubled from an average of 16C, but this also dried the land and led to wildfires, for example in the mainly Arctic autonomous district of Yamal-Nenets.

'The fires are burning in an unusual area. Most summer wildfires in Siberia occur south of the 57 degrees North latitude line, along the southern edge of the taiga. The July 2013 fires are significantly north of that, raging in woodlands near the 65 degrees North line,' said one report.

'High temperatures play an important role in promoting wildfires.

'Warm fuels burn more readily than cooler fuels because less energy is required to raise their temperature to the point of ignition. With temperatures soaring in northern Russia, it was easier for previously active fires to continue burning and for lightning to spark new ones.'

Heavy rains unleash deadly, damaging flash floods throughout U.S. Midwest; worst may be yet to come

Jim Salter
Associated Press
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 10:05 UTC

Torrential rains continued across the nation's midsection on Thursday, causing flash flooding that killed a woman and a child, damaged homes and forced multiple water rescues.

Up to 10 inches of rain pounded southern Missouri overnight. A woman died near Jane, Mo., in the far southwestern corner of the state where creek water washed over a highway, sweeping away her car.

"Early this morning it just unleashed," said Greg Sweeten, emergency management director in McDonald County, Mo.

Authorities in the south-central Missouri town of Waynesville continued to search for 23-year-old Jessica D. Lee, whose car was swept up in a flash flood early Tuesday. The body of her 4-year-old son, Elyjah, was found Tuesday, hours after his mother made a distress call from her cell phone.

Flash flood warnings were common in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. And things could get worse: Heavy rain is in the forecast into the weekend.

National Weather Service meteorologist Drew Albert in Springfield, Mo., said the rain is the result of a storm front that has stalled over the plains.

Wolf found in Netherlands for the first time in over 140 years

newsdaily.com
Wed, 07 Aug 2013 06:23 UTC

The first wolf found in the Netherlands in over 140 years walked there freely from eastern Europe, scientists said Wednesday, dismissing allegations its body had been dumped as joke.

The female wolf has mystified the Netherlands since its body was found by the roadside near the tiny village of Luttelgeest in the north of the country in July.

Some had even suggested that eastern European agricultural workers employed in the Netherlands had brought the wolf from their home country in order to confound the Dutch.

But now a bevvy of Dutch scientific and wildlife groups have come together to establish the truth.

The Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) said in a statement after a press conference that "the wolf died from a heavy blow to the head, apparently from being hit by a car."

Saharan dust cloud travels thousands of miles across the Atlantic and lands in Texas causing widespread allergy symptoms

The Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 09 Aug 2013 05:39 UTC

Dust from the Saharan Desert has traveled thousands of miles across the Atlantic and covered the state of Texas in a cloud of haze.

A number of Texans are reporting an increase in allergy symptoms as a result of the African dust cloud.

The tiny particles can aggravate existing heart and lung conditions, such as asthma, so doctors are advising people to stay indoors until the cloud passes in the next couple days.

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Earth Changes

Why is the USDA storing 700,000 vials of frozen sperm in Colorado?

Damage, injuries reported from flooding in Manitou Springs, Colorado

Halesowen residents driven to distraction by "mystery sound"

Rare sprite lightning discharge caught on camera

Why so many wildfires? Half of U.S. is a hot, bone-dry burn zone

State of emergency as serious flooding hits the Amur Region amid concerns over dam

Wildfires heat up the Arctic as climate change frazzles the north of Siberia

Heavy rains unleash deadly, damaging flash floods throughout U.S. Midwest; worst may be yet to come

Wolf found in Netherlands for the first time in over 140 years

Saharan dust cloud travels thousands of miles across the Atlantic and lands in Texas causing widespread allergy symptoms

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