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The agency that oversees New York's airports has added snowy owls to its no-fly list, shooting down at least two at Kennedy Airport and issuing an alert to kill any more that are spotted there, an airport source told NBC 4 New York. Marc Santia reports.
The agency that oversees New York's airports shot down at least two snowy owls at Kennedy Airport, but now promises an effort to trap and relocate them.
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey issued the shoot-to-kill order for the birds after one flew into a jet's engine while the plane was on a tarmac at Kennedy last week, an airport source told NBC 4 New York.
After media reports on the hunted owls Monday, the Port Authority said it would implement a program to trap and relocate the birds, which have been migrating to the region this year in unusually high numbers.
"The Port Authority's goal is to strike a balance in humanely controlling bird populations at and around the agency's airports to safeguard passengers on thousands of aircrafts each day," the agency said in a statement.
A total of five planes were hit by snowy owls at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports in recent weeks, the Port Authority told the Associated Press.
At Lakeview, Oregon the mercury dropped to -27 degrees below zero, setting a new all-time record for that location. The previous record was -22 degrees below zero set back in February of 1933 and again in January of 1937.
Perhaps even more impressive was on the west side of the Cascade mountains where Eugene, Oregon fell to -10 degrees below zero Sunday morning. Ironically, this is not an all-time record for Eugene. As luck would have it, Eugene's all-time record low is -12 degrees below zero was set on this very day back in 1972, making today the second coldest day in Eugene modern day history. Records date back more than 123 years (to 1890) in Eugene.
© AlamyThe yellow wagtail has disappeared entirely from Wales
An annual stocktake of bird populations by a coalition of nature groups shows that many of the country's 107 most familiar species, such as the starling and grey partridge, are suffering "plummeting" population changes compared with the 1990s.
But as well as losing numbers across the board, The State of the UK's Birds warns that species are vanishing from sections of the country where they once thrived as their geographical range shrinks with their population.
The unique British race of the yellow wagtail, which has a brighter yellow head compared to its European cousins, has declined by 45 per cent since 1995 but its range has also reduced by nearly a third and the species has vanished from large areas of England as well as the entirety of Wales.
The corn bunting, a dumpy farmland bird once abundant across the countryside, is now extinct in Ireland and the cuckoo has disappeared from large parts of South-east England and the Midlands.
Dr Mark Eaton, a conservation scientist with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "I think many of us have been shocked by how poorly some of our most familiar species are faring. Many of the birds we're referring to aren't rare and don't occur in remote locations.
In some cities, the frigid air mass has been the coldest seen in years or has broken daily record lows. Here's a few examples:
It may be Green Monday today, but it was "Green Sunday" yesterday for beachgoers off Florida's Space Coast. The surf turned to a bright fluorescent green Sunday afternoon as waves broke off Cocoa Beach, Florida. When surfers paddled out through the breaking waves, the water agitation appeared to make the surf even greener.
In recent weeks, Brevard County beaches have accumulated heaps of seaweed due to prevailing easterly winds. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials stated that they will conduct sampling of the waters off Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral to determine whether an algal bloom is the cause of the water discoloration.
Brevard County Environmental Health Director Melissa Brock said in an email that after FWC's test results are in, "a Florida Department of Health response will be based upon if a bloom exists and if the responsible organism produces a toxin that is harmful to health."
Sumatra's Sinabung volcano sees large eruption this morning, ash plume at 38,000 ft (12 km) altitude
After a relatively calm period, a large vulcanian explosion occurred at the volcano this morning (04:30 GMT). VAAC Darwin reports an ash plume to 38,000 ft (12 km) altitude drifting 50 nautical miles to the NW. The eruption was preceded by a smaller one at midnight (GMT) with an ash plume altitude of estimated 18,000 ft (5.5 km). The volcano has been on red alert for 2 weeks and more than 17,000 people remain evacuated (for good reason!).
Feeling chilly? Here's cold comfort: You could be in East Antarctica which new data says set a record for "soul-crushing" cold.
Try 135.8 degrees Fahrenheit below zero; that's 93.2 degrees below zero Celsius, which sounds only slightly toastier. Better yet, don't try it. That's so cold scientists say it hurts to breathe.
A new look at NASA satellite data revealed that Earth set a new record for coldest temperature recorded. It happened in August 2010 when it hit -135.8 degrees. Then on July 31 of this year, it came close again: -135.3 degrees. The old record had been -128.6 degrees, which is -89.2 degrees Celsius.
Ice scientist Ted Scambos at the National Snow and Ice Data Center said the new record is "50 degrees colder than anything that has ever been seen in Alaska or Siberia or certainly North Dakota."
"It's more like you'd see on Mars on a nice summer day in the poles," Scambos said, from the American Geophysical Union scientific meeting in San Francisco Monday, where he announced the data. "I'm confident that these pockets are the coldest places on Earth."
Try 135.8 degrees Fahrenheit below zero; that's 93.2 degrees below zero Celsius, which sounds only slightly toastier. Better yet, don't try it. That's so cold scientists say it hurts to breathe.
A new look at NASA satellite data revealed that Earth set a new record for coldest temperature recorded. It happened in August 2010 when it hit -135.8 degrees. Then on July 31 of this year, it came close again: -135.3 degrees. The old record had been -128.6 degrees, which is -89.2 degrees Celsius.
© Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data CenterNASA Spots Coldest Place on Earth in Antarctica at a Record -94.7 Celsius
"It's more like you'd see on Mars on a nice summer day in the poles," Scambos said, from the American Geophysical Union scientific meeting in San Francisco Monday, where he announced the data. "I'm confident that these pockets are the coldest places on Earth."
In November 2013 the sun showed signs of more activity as sunspot number (SSN) was 77.6. This solar cycle month (the 60th of the current cycle) was therefore "only" 32% below the level of a normally active sun. Just as a reminder: February 2013 was 66% below the mean value of all the previous observed cycles 1-23! Compared to the mean (blue) the current cycle (red) appears as follows:
© Frank Bosse and Fritz VahrenholtFigure 1: Current cycle 24 (red) versus mean solar cycle (blue) and solar cycle 5 (gray).
© Wikimedia Commons
The sea creatures that were discovered on Snipe Point, about six miles north of Sugarloaf Key, are likely from the pod of stranded whales "that had been the focus of an intense rescue effort" last week, Blair Mase, stranding coordinator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, the main federal marine conservation agency, told reporters in a conference call.
NOAA said it's suspected that the whales came from a pod of 51 pilot whales that were stranded on the Gulf Coast of Florida's Everglades National Park.
"We think these are from the same group," Mase said. "We expected this would happen."
© Taranki Daily NewsStation Officer Jason Crowe, right, and Senior firefighter Nick Hackling mend a section of roof taken off by a small tornado.
A Taranaki woman had her roof lifted off her house when a mini tornado swept through her street yesterday afternoon.
Heavy rain pounded the region earlier this morning before the skies cleared.
The New Plymouth fire service was called to the Egmont Road property around 2.50pm today. Owner Kelly Andrews said she was watching TV when things got a ''bit breezy''.
''It was totally unexpected,'' she said. ''I heard a major bang on the roof and the kitchen window was blown out.'' ''The glass got right through the cupboards and all.''
Ms Andrews said she did not realise part of her roof was missing until she informed by a neighbour.
Comment: They sure took their sweet time publishing this information... is that because it conflicts with their 'climate models' and supports the imminent ice age theory?