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Cloud Precipitation

Hail as large as golf balls pummels parts of Florida

Jan Wesner Childs
The Weather Channel
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 20:25 UTC
Florida town wakes up to piles of hail

Florida town wakes up to piles of hail
Hail as large as golf balls pelted a large swath of central Florida Wednesday morning as heavy storms battered the region.

Florida Today reported that windows were shattered, pool screens blown apart and cars damaged, while piles of ice up to two inches high covered the ground in some areas along the Space Coast in Brevard County.

"It's been a long time since Brevard has seen this," Matt Volkmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, told the newspaper. "This system was a little stronger than expected."

Wind gusts up to 47 mph were recorded later in the day at Port Canaveral as the blustery weather continued, bringing with it rough seas and waves of 7 to 9 feet.

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Doberman

Horrific video shows pit bull kill Pomeranian before helpless owner's eyes in New York

Joseph Ostapiuk
silive.com
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 19:47 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A 16-year routine for two dog owners from Eltingville ended in horror after the couple's Pomeranian was brutally attacked and killed by a passing pit bull who overpowered the child who was walking it.

The couple, who spoke to the Advance under the condition their name not be published, said that their beloved dog would commonly follow the female homeowner without a leash as she took out the garbage for the evening.

The couple's dog, as shown in the dramatic and gruesome video captured by the family's Ring doorbell on March 16, follows the homeowner and walks to the curb a few feet away before urinating by a mailbox.

Shortly after, a pit bull being walked on a leash by a small grade-school child crosses paths with the family pet.

The pit bull viciously and unexpectedly latches onto the Pomeranian "like a chew toy," the homeowner said, "and threw him around."

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Cloud Precipitation

Fresh flash floods kill 17 in Afghanistan, worsen already desperate situation


Al Arabiya
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 13:31 UTC
People salvage items from a house destroyed
© Reuters
People salvage items from a house destroyed by flood in Enjil district of Herat province, Afghanistan March 29, 2019.
Heavy rains caused flash floods in western Afghanistan that killed at least 17 people, destroying homes and sweeping through makeshift shelters that housed displaced families, a government official said on Saturday.

Two days of flooding that started on Thursday killed 12 people in Jawzjan and two in Badghis, provinces that border Turkmenistan, said Hasibullah Shir Khani, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority.

Two others were killed in Herat and another in Sar-e Pul province, he said.

More than 500 houses were destroyed.

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Cloud Precipitation

More than 1 million acres of U.S. cropland ravaged by floods

P.J. Huffstutter, Humeyra Pamuk
Reuters
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:53 UTC
Paddocks at Washington County Fairgrounds
© Humeyra Pamuk
Paddocks at Washington County Fairgrounds are shown underwater due to flooding in Arlington, Nebraska, U.S., March 21, 2019.
At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the "bomb cyclone" storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by Gro Intelligence for Reuters showed.

Farms from the Dakotas to Missouri and beyond have been under water for a week or more, possibly impeding planting and damaging soil. The floods, which came just weeks before planting season starts in the Midwest, will likely reduce corn, wheat and soy production this year.

"There's thousands of acres that won't be able to be planted," Ryan Sonderup, 36, of Fullerton, Nebraska, who has been farming for 18 years, said in a recent interview.

"If we had straight sunshine now until May and June, maybe it can be done, but I don't see how that soil gets back with expected rainfall."
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Seismograph

6.4-magnitude earthquake hits New Britain island, Papua New Guinea


NDTV
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 12:20 UTC
EARTHQUAKE
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Papua New Guinea's New Britain island, 300km east of Kandrian, on Saturday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The quake struck at 1130 GMT at a depth of 33 km, the Center added.

Source: Reuters
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Question

Whales swimming in Long Beach Harbor, California for over 1 month is unusual behavior, experts say

Sid Garcia
abc7.com
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 11:51 UTC
Whales
Up to five whales were spotted swimming in the Long Beach Harbor Friday. Though it was a spectacular sight, the pod's behavior is making experts concerned.

Capt. Dan Salas with Harbor Breeze Cruises said during this phase of the migration, whales usually stay around the area for a couple days and head up north.

But this year, Salas said he's noticed that the gray whales are sticking around the area for well over a month. They've been actively feeding near the Port of Los Angeles. Salas clarified that during migration, the whales typically do not feed at all.


Comment: Whale's carcass spotted off Torrey Pines' coast - 2nd off Southern California recently

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Attention

Whale's carcass spotted off Torrey Pines' coast - 2nd off Southern California recently

Alexander Nguyen
nbclosangeles.com
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 10:31 UTC
whale
© San Diego Fire-Rescue
The carcass of a whale, presumably a gray whale, was found off the coast of Torrey Pines on Thursday.

Black's Beach lifeguards spotted the cetacean floating in the water about 2 to 3 miles off Sumner Canyon, San Diego Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.

The 30-foot whale, possibly a gray whale, was in the early stages of decomposition and bloating, she said.

Lifeguards are working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to secure carcass samples to figure out a way to dispose of the whale.

Comment: Dead gray whale washed ashore on Malibu Beach, California

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Attention

1100 dead and mutilated dolphins have washed up on France's Atlantic coast so far in 2019 - UPDATE

Emilie King
The Local (France)
Mon, 18 Feb 2019 14:32 UTC
Illustration Photo
© Michel Gangne, AFP
Illustration Photo
Since the beginning of the year alone, a record number of up to 600 dolphins have washed up on France's Atlantic coast. So what's going on?

What's the story?

Since the start of 2019, up to 600 dolphins have washed up on beaches along France's Atlantic coast.

According to two different surveys, the numbers of carcasses found this year is between 400 and 600 - but even the lower estimate is higher than any previous year at the same period.

While dead dolphins wash up on beaches in France each year scientists say the situation is alarming.

Comment: UPDATE 30th March

The number of dead and mutilated dolphins has risen by 500 in just over a month and the cause for this spike remains a mystery to investigators, RT reports that:
A record-breaking 1,100 dead dolphins have been discovered with their fins cut off along France's Atlantic coast since the beginning of the year, sparking alarm among animal protection groups.

Just three months into 2019, the astonishing number of mutilated dolphins is already greater than last year's record, which was the highest for decades. Furthermore, autopsies carried out on this year's discoveries found they'd undergone an extreme level of mutilation.

The mass deaths are generally a result of aggressive industrial fishing, with 90 percent of the mortalities believed to have been caused by accidental capture. Animal welfare groups say fisherman will often cut body parts off the trapped dolphins to save their nets.

However, this year's spike in fatalities is a mystery and France's Ecology Minister Francois de Rugy has launched a national plan to protect the animals. He has ordered an investigation into the use of acoustic dolphin deterrent devices by trawlers in the Bay of Biscay, an industrial fishing hub in the Atlantic Ocean.


Animal rights group Sea Shepherd have lambasted Rugy's efforts as "useless,"claiming many trawlers that they observe don't activate the repellent device for fear of scaring off other valuable fish like hake and sea bass, and say more is needed to protect dolphins.


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Cloud Precipitation

South America - Thousands affected by floods and landslides in Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia


Floodlist
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 20:28 UTC
Floods in Paraguay, March 2019.
© Government of Paraguay
Floods in Paraguay, March 2019.
Heavy rain has triggered flooding and landslides in parts of South America over the last few days.

Around 70,000 people are currently affected by floods in several departments of Paraguay. Flooding and landslides in Peru have damaged or destroyed dozens of homes and prompted evacuations in the regions of Ancash, Amazonas and Cusco.

In Ecuador, flooding in Los Ríos Province has prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency in several cantons, while in Bolivia, over 2,000 hectares of crops and 109 homes have been destroyed by flooding from the overflowing Parapetí River in Santa Cruz Department.


Comment: Paraguay - Thousands affected by flooding in Presidente Hayes, Concepción and Guairá

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Butterfly

Netherlands lost 84% of its butterflies in just over a century


DutchNews.nl
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 20:06 UTC
dark green fritillary
© Iain Leach
Dark green fritillary
The Dutch butterfly population shrunk by at least 84% between 1890 and 2017, national statistics agency CBS and the Vlinderstichting report.

The new figures are based on an analysis of long-term data resulting from a national measuring programme developed by the two organisations.

Three years ago scientists recorded a growth in some types of butterfly for the first time since monitoring began in the early 1990s, especially among rare species such as the dark green fritillary. However, the latest figures show that their number is declining again.
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