Earth Changes

Eight tropical cyclones spinning simultaneously in the north Pacific Ocean for first time since 1974

Jon Erdman
The Weather Channel
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 08:00 UTC

four simultaneous tropical cyclones in Pacific Ocean

© Weather.com
Satellite image of the east and central Pacific from July 22, 2017 with four simultaneous tropical cyclones.

The north Pacific Ocean pulled off an impressive feat with eight tropical cyclones spinning at one time Saturday, July 22, something that hasn't been accomplished in more than four decades.

In the central and eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday were two named storms, Fernanda and Greg, along with Tropical Depression Nine-E and Tropical Depression Ten-E. The two tropical depressions eventually went on to become Hilary and Irwin.

Meanwhile, the western Pacific Ocean had Noru, Kulap, Roke and Tropical Depression Eight-W all spinning in parts of that basin. Tropical Depression Eight-W would later become Tropical Storm Sonca.

Although it's not unheard of to see multiple tropical cyclones at the same time, this is impressive on any scale.

Eight tropical cyclones have not roamed the north Pacific Ocean simultaneously since 1974, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University.

Evacuation orders and advisories to 120,000 after record-breaking rain hits Akita, Japan

The Japan Times
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 12:52 UTC

Roughly 120,000 Akita Prefecture residents were ordered or advised to evacuate on Sunday as the risk of flooding and landslides rose following torrential rain in Tohoku, authorities said.

No injuries have been reported so far.

On Sunday afternoon, the Meteorological Agency warned of more flooding as an active rain front that brought record rainfall to parts of Akita decided to park itself over the Tohoku region.

The cities of Yurihonjo, Daisen and Senboku, as well as the town of Misato, collectively ordered 24,000 residents to evacuate after it was reported that houses had been flooded and landslides had struck various parts of Akita, local officials said.

Another 96,000 people in six cities and three towns in the prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan were issued evacuation advisories and urged to prepare for floods and landslides, the officials said.

The storm caused flooding along stretches of the Omono River, while several other rivers were deemed at risk of overflowing their banks.

Comment: Earlier this month floods in Japan killed 20 people after 'unprecedented' rainfall.

Rome faces water rationing as city bans pumping water from drought-hit Lake Bracciano

Crispian Balmer
Reuters
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 09:06 UTC

Authorities have ordered a halt to pumping water out of a lake near Rome following a prolonged drought, a decision that could force city officials to impose water rationing in the Italian capital.

The head of the local Lazio region, which is centered on Rome, said on Saturday the ban on withdrawing water from Lake Bracciano would come into force on July 28.

"Sadly, it is a tragedy," Nicola Zingaretti told Tgcom24 TV station. "The truth is Lake Bracciano has fallen too much and we risk an environmental disaster."

Acea, the utility firm which runs Rome's water system, has said that two years of lower-than-average rainfall have dramatically reduced water levels in reservoirs feeding the city, with a prolonged, ongoing heat wave making matters worse.

Comment: Rome water fountains run dry as heat wave sparks 'exceptional' drought across Italy

City warns 'aggressive' squirrel that's gnawed on five people in Brooklyn park may have rabies

Andrew Keshner
New York Daily News
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 20:55 UTC

Call this squirrel Rocky - and stay away.

The city Health Department is putting out the warning on an "unusually aggressive squirrel" in Brooklyn's Prospect Park that's attacked and bitten five people.

Though squirrels rarely have rabies, city health officials are assuming this one does.

Snowballs in July? St. Petersburg covered with piles of 'snow' after heavy hailstorm

RT
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 09:25 UTC

Fancy throwing snowballs in summer or going barefoot and T-shirt-clad during a 'snowfall' in July? This weekend in St. Petersburg, Russia would have been perfect after a heavy hailstorm hit the city.

On Saturday, streets in St. Petersburg were covered with piles of snow and the roads resembled winter rivers. City residents took to social media to share the unusual summer scenery.

Just last month, Moscow also fell victim to the whims of nature when snow fell upon the Russian capital just as summer was beginning.

The miserable luck with the weather didn't end there as heavy rain hit the city over and over again, while temperatures remain below normal for this time of year.

Comment: Some extreme weather has hit Moscow recently. See also:

Damaging storms leave nearly 100,000 people without power in the Kansas City area

Robert A. Cronkleton
Kansas City Star
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 08:18 UTC

Nearly 100,000 people woke up without power Sunday morning after severe storms swept through the Kansas City area overnight, downing trees and power lines. Some outages are expected to stretch into Monday amid potentially dangerous heat.

Widespread power outages were being reported across the Kansas City area after winds from the storms reached 70 mph and produced heavy lightning.

Kansas City Power & Light reported on Facebook that as many as 112,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm. Overnight, it assessed the total impact of the damage and called in all available crews to restore power.

By 8:30 a.m. Sunday, about 71,000 customers remained without power. KCP&L said it expected outages to continue into Monday.

"This will be a multi-day restoration," said Jeremy McNeive, manager of media communications for KCP&L.

"Right now it looks like the bulk of it seems to be downed wires and poles," he said. "We have around 180 linemen and contractors. We've reached out to neighboring for assistance so we expect to have more in the field here in the next few hours."

Greek holiday island recovers from deadly quake

Louisa Gouliamaki
France 24
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 14:43 UTC

A boy stands next to a car crushed under rubble near the port of the Greek island of Kos following a 6.5 magnitude earthquake which struck the region on July 21, 2017

The Greek holiday island of Kos on Saturday was struggling to recover from a quake that killed two people and injured hundreds, with tourists facing flight delays and the damaged main harbour closed for a second day.

The 6.7-magnitude tremor also left hundreds more injured in the Turkish resort of Bodrum, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) across the sea from Kos.

"Given the amount of people outside at the time, having only two victims is a miracle," deputy Kos mayor David Yerasklis told Kathimerini daily.

The undersea quake struck at 1:31 am Friday (2231 GMT Thursday) between Kos and Bodrum.

At the time, tourists in both places were out enjoying the nightlife.

On Kos, a wall collapsed on people in the courtyard of a nightclub, killing a 22-year-old Swede and a 39-year-old Turk.

Over 200 sheep dead after bear chases them off a cliff in the Pyrenees, France

Rory Mulholland
Telegraph
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 14:16 UTC

More than 200 sheep have died after they hurtled over the edge of a cliff in the Pyrenees mountains while being chased by a bear.

Their deaths have reignited the bitter debate over the presence of bears in the mountain range that straddles the French-Spanish border, where they were reintroduced 20 years ago after disappearing in the early 1990s.

The sheep belonged to a farmer in the Couflens area on the French side of the border, but their bodies were found last Sunday at the foot of a cliff just over the border in Spain.

The rest of the large flock was missing after dispersing over the mountains while fleeing the attack.

Local authorities sent experts to examine the scene during the week and they concluded that the sheep had been running away from a bear.

Comment: There's some doubt on the bear attack theory. Any farmer in the Pyrenees with sheep dead from unknown causes, i.e. where they are found dead with no evidence of animal attack, would most likely try to push the "bear said boo!" angle. These kinds of government/EU subsidies and compensation have been exploited by farmers and others across the EU for decades.

Although a bear attack can't be ruled out, we can suspect that the incident was created by a "weather event" or something that created a high impact explosion, like a sonic boom or lightning strike. Sheep have acute hearing and are prone to "instantly scatter" away from heavy percussion and the source of the vibration. Many of the sheep were found to have dispersed over the mountains. It's dubious that a bear attack would create that type of a reaction.

On the other hand, the Spanish news agency Europa Press said that bear fur had been found on one of the dead sheep. The fur would be analysed to try to establish exactly what had happened. But this is a bit strange that bear fur can be found so opportunely on a sheep. Another possibility is that the bear didn't come along afterwards and the sheep were spooked by something else.

Tourist is attacked by shark off Mallorca, Spain

Rita Sobot
Daily Mail
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 14:12 UTC

A tourist has been attacked by a 6ft shark on a crowded Mallorca beach in the third sighting this summer.

Swimmers were ordered to leave the waters of the Estanys beach in Colònia de Sant Jordi after the man was grazed on the arm by the female shark yesterday afternoon.

A shark sighting alert was relayed to nearby beaches and a red warning flag was raised.

The shark is thought to have come close to the shore due to the hot weather and tides, or become sick and disorientated.

This is the third time a shark has been seen in the waters of Mallorca in the last few weeks.

Sea of plastic: 'Straws suck' campaign raises awareness about ocean pollution

David Suzuki
Ecowatch
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 17:54 UTC

Of all the plastic products we use and take for granted, plastic drinking straws are among the most unnecessary. Designed to be used once and discarded, their only real purpose is to keep your mouth from touching a glass or ice. It made more sense in the days when contaminated vessels were more of an issue.

Now, there's a movement to get people and businesses to ditch the straws. It may not seem like a big deal, but it is. In the U.S. alone, people discard 500 million straws every day, or more than 180 billion a year. That's about 1.4 million kilograms of plastic sent to landfills and into the oceans every day!

Comment: We are rapidly approaching an environmental catastrophe: Plastic waste in the ocean will outnumber fish by 2050

One of the more shocking details in the report addresses how, by 2050, we will have more plastic in the ocean than fish. Sit with that for a moment. The day will come in the not so distant future where the sea will be so clogged with plastic debris, fish will be in the minority.

The report states that every year "at least 8m tonnes of plastics leak into the ocean - which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050. In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish [by weight]."

Big Tech cancels Alex Jones, Anglin, countless others. Outcry ignored. Evil bastards. All above: Great comments! R.C.

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Earth Changes

Eight tropical cyclones spinning simultaneously in the north Pacific Ocean for first time since 1974

Evacuation orders and advisories to 120,000 after record-breaking rain hits Akita, Japan

Rome faces water rationing as city bans pumping water from drought-hit Lake Bracciano

City warns 'aggressive' squirrel that's gnawed on five people in Brooklyn park may have rabies

Snowballs in July? St. Petersburg covered with piles of 'snow' after heavy hailstorm

Damaging storms leave nearly 100,000 people without power in the Kansas City area

Greek holiday island recovers from deadly quake

Over 200 sheep dead after bear chases them off a cliff in the Pyrenees, France

Tourist is attacked by shark off Mallorca, Spain

Sea of plastic: 'Straws suck' campaign raises awareness about ocean pollution

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