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© AP Photo/Dirk LammersA tractor trailer and two smaller trucks work their way through standing water on a closed portion of U.S. Highway 18 at the South Dakota-Iowa border, Tuesday, June 17, 2014, east of Canton, S.D.
Severe storms moved across parts of eastern South Dakota Monday closing roads, flooding streets, highways and fields, and increasing flows in the Big Sioux River.
Daugaard on Tuesday met with emergency management officials in Elk Point and later toured flood-affected areas in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.
The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls said rainfall amounts Monday afternoon and overnight were greater than 2.5 inches in most areas, with some reaching more than 4 inches.
© El Comercio
Geological authorities are reporting that the Sabancaya volcano in southern Peru has become active after 15 years of silence.
According to information released by the Peruvian Geophysical Institute (IGP), Sabancaya has erupted several times. The first recorded activity at Sabancaya was in 1750, and the volcano became active again in 1784. 200 years later, in 1986, the volcano once again displayed activity. Now, the volcano is once again active, having gradually intensified since late February.
Speaking to El Comercio, IGP investigator Orlando Macedo said "All this activity is part of an expected process. Before the eruption, tremors were occurring closer and closer to the volcano and the crater. However, the process is taking longer than that which we saw at the Ubinas Volcano, when everything happened in a matter of days. In the case of Sabancaya, this could go on for several months."
© USGS
2014-06-19 10:17:58 UTC
2014-06-19 21:17:58 UTC+11:00 at epicenter
Location
13.577°S 166.826°E depth=59.9km (37.2mi)
Nearby Cities
85km (53mi) WNW of Sola, Vanuatu
219km (136mi) N of Luganville, Vanuatu
487km (303mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
813km (505mi) N of We, New Caledonia
878km (546mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands
Scientific data
Carcasses of rosy starling in Baramati, Pune district, and an Indian peafowl at Umarga, Osmanabad district
A total 26 species of birds and nine species of mammals were killed in Marathwada and Vidarbha during the period from March 1 to 10 and on May 1 and 2, BNHS stated in the report that was released on Tuesday.
Mass mortality was reported in 27 areas with high mortality in 14 areas, each covering about 25 sq km.
"A high number of deaths were reported for birds that prefer residing near human habitation. Some of these are mynas, owls, parakeets and kites," the report states.
The highest rate of mass mortality was observed at the roosting sites of birds such as rosy starling, the house sparrow and rose-ringed parakeet. Birds such as coucal, bulbul, drongo, quail, lark, egret and bee-eaters were found dead across the study area.
Snow is falling over the higher elevations, as an upper-level low swirls over the Northern Rockies. Alta, Utah reported nine inches of snow on Tuesday, which makes it their third highest one-day snowfall total in June. Glacier National Park reports about one foot of snow fell on Wednesday at Sperry Chalet (approximately 6,590 feet in altitude). Lake-effect rain and snow has also developed off the Great Salt Lake, with snow above 7,000 feet.
Mountain snow will continue through Thursday morning in parts of the Northern Rockies. Winds will gust up to 30 mph and visibility may be less than half a mile at times.
Closer to pass level, look for a mix of rain and snow, with no accumulation expected. But if you have an early summer vacation planned for Glacier National Park, remember to bring your snow gear as more than a foot of snow is not out of the question.
Plow crews began the process of digging out Logan Pass in Montana last week, and they hope to have the Sun Road open to Logan Pass sometime after June 20. Conditions across the region will improve this weekend. Temperatures will climb into the 70s with mostly sunny skies.
© AFP
But residents of the Baltic nation were baffled on Tuesday when flurries of the white stuff fell in June for the first time in more than three decades.
"We last recorded snow in June 32 years ago and it was on exactly the same date: June 17, 1982," Estonian meteorologist Helve Meitern told AFP.
"Tonight, we could see temperatures fall below zero degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit)," she added.
The wintry weather follows a heatwave over the last month that saw temperatures spike to a toasty 30 degrees Celsius across this EU state of three million, where average June daytime temperatures range from 18-20 degrees Celsius.
The mercury soared to a searing 35.6 Celsius in August 1992, the hottest day ever recorded in Estonia.
Source: AFP
© UnknownThe Assayii Lake Fire had consumed 11,000 acres on the Navajo Nation and caused the evacuation of two communities.
The Assayii Lake Fire had burned 11,000 acres in the Chuska Mountains as of Monday June 16, and by nightfall the Sheep Springs and Naschitti communities were being evacuated. About 50 residences were threatened, four structures destroyed, and damage was still being assessed on Monday night into Tuesday morning, according to a press release from Southwest Incident Management Team 3.
"For safety reasons, the general public is encouraged not to travel on access roads leading to the Bowl Canyon Recreation Area," the news release said. "Road closures in the area are Rt. 134 at Sheep Springs to Crystal Boarding School and Rt. 30 at Mexican Springs."
The human-caused fire was sparked on June 13, 10 miles northeast of Navajo, New Mexico, the Incident Management Team said. The fire was being fought by 23 crews, 15 engines, six helicopters, two bulldozers and 593 personnel. About 700 firefighters were due to arrive on Monday evening, reported NBC affiliate KOB News out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wind conditions were expected to continue through Tuesday.
© thehigherlearning.com
When people hear the term "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", they expect to find millions of plastic bottles floating around out there. But that is not what we are dealing with. You see, when plastic gets into the ocean it never biodegrades, but it does photodegrade. So what we end up with is a "plastic soup" of billions upon billions of microscopic pieces of plastic. Some are approximately the size of your pinkie fingernail, but most of the pieces are much smaller.
Comment: Additional reading about the Plague of Plastic killing the world's oceans:
- Are We Witnessing the Death of Our Planet?
- Plastic Trash in Oceans May Be 'Vastly' Underestimated
- Great Pacific Garbage Patch' Plastic Has Increased Hundredfold Since the 1970s
- The world's rubbish dump: a garbage pit that stretches from Hawaii to Japan
- Something the entire world should see - most of us are simply unaware
- A Passion to Clean up the Pacific Ocean's Great 'GarbagePatch'
- What is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?
- Pacific Ocean garbage patch worries researchers
- Plastic trash vortex menaces Pacific sealife: study
- Huge Garbage Patch Found in Atlantic Too
"The slowly rotating mass of rubbish-laden water poses a risk to human health, too. Hundreds of millions of tiny plastic pellets, or nurdles - the raw materials for the plastic industry - are lost or spilled every year, working their way into the sea. These pollutants act as chemical sponges attracting man-made chemicals such as hydrocarbons and the pesticide DDT. They then enter the food chain. What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It's that simple"
© Blogger
Reports of loud ''bangs'' followed by houses shaking began about 5pm, in the Hibiscus Coast area.
Inspector Tony Edwards of police northern communications said police received reports of the bangs from the Herald Island - Greenhithe area about the same time.
More reports came in a while later from the Ranui - Scenic Drive area in West Auckland.
A Fire Service worker came in to work later and confirmed they had heard the noises in the Red Beach area, which is on the Hibiscus Coast.
Edwards said people had variously described the noises as sounding like gun-shots and loud explosions.
Police had checked with the Air Force, which has a base in Whenuapai, but turned out not to be not responsible, and neither was Paremoremo prison.
Lines companies had not reported any electrical disturbances and Geonet is not showing any tectonic activity in the Auckland area.
Arkles Bay resident Will Trayes said he heard the noises about 4pm.
His house shook with a "sudden, quick vibration" for two or three seconds and he heard a slight rumble similar to thunder.
Comment: Strange sounds recorded world wide in the last year.
Comment: Only halfway through 2014 and already the reports of volcanic activity around the globe are fast approaching the total for both 2013 and 2012. See below -