Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Russia's coldest winter at -67C, 'once in a century' blizzard buries Moscow expected to continue through Monday (PHOTOS, VIDEO)


TRT World
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 18:33 UTC
moscow blizzard century record breaking
Frozen eyelashes and broken thermometers. This is what winter in Russia looks like this year with the country experiencing record lows.

In the Siberian region of Yakutia, home to nearly one million people, brutal winters are a normal part of life.

But even there, the temperatures are unusual this year going as low as minus 67 Celsius.

Comment: When countries famed for dealing with extreme cold struggle to cope, and with records for snow and ice being broken all over the world, it's clear we're seeing serious, ominous, planetary cooling:

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Attention

Thousands of dead penguins wash up on beaches in Northland, New Zealand


Newstalk ZB.
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 17:36 UTC
Thousands of blue penguins are dying on New Zealand's east coast, including in Northland.
© NZ HeraldThousands of blue penguins are dying on New Zealand's east coast, including in Northland.
Rough seas and strong easterlies - and a successful breeding season - could be behind the deaths of possibly thousands of little blue penguins on Northland's east coast.

Many east coast beaches have been strewn with bodies of the world's smallest penguin species, in Maori called korora, along with shearwaters, petrels and other seabirds.

Although the sight has shocked some visitors to the region, even locals used to seeing dead seabirds are concerned at the number of birds in trouble and carcasses, Whangarei birdman Robert Webb said.

The Whangarei Bird Recovery Centre which he manages is caring for dozens of injured or exhausted seabirds brought in this week.

Comment: See also these 2 recent reports from other areas of New Zealand: Hundreds of dead and starving seabirds wash up on beaches at Tasman Bay, New Zealand

Mass of dead and dying seabirds on Bay of Plenty shores in New Zealand

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Question

The riddle of hundreds of starlings falling from the sky in Rome

Tom Kington
The Times
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 17:24 UTC
dead birds
Dead starlings in Rome
The flocks of starlings that create choreographed patterns in the skies over Rome have mysteriously lost their aplomb, with hundreds falling to their deaths after colliding with each other

The birds began plummeting from the sky last weekend, leaving a litter of tiny corpses across roads and pavements. Normally, they weave intricate shapes in the sky, twisting and turning in formations known as murmurations to deter predators while providing a show for locals.

But at Porta Pia, one of the gates of Rome, and in other neighbourhoods, residents had to tiptoe around fallen birds' bodies, while mopeds risked skidding on corpses crushed by passing cars. "It was like a Hitchcock film — there was a lot of blood and the smell became horrible," Paolo Peroso, head of the Porta Pia residents' association, said.
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Sun

Circumzenithal arc seen over New Plymouth, New Zealand

Andrew Owen
Taranki Daily News
Sat, 03 Feb 2018 15:49 UTC
Circumzenithal arc in NZ
© Simon O'Connor/StuffThe circumzenithal arc, or smile in the sky, seen above the Wind Wand on Saturday afternoon.
It's known as a smile in the sky, and somebody up there must be happy because there were two grinning down on New Plymouth during Saturday afternoon.

The upside down rainbows - captured here above the Wind Wand by photographer Simon O'Connor - are officially known as circumzenithal arcs, or Bravais arcs.

They are formed by sunlight refracting off ice crystals in the air high above, rather than light hitting raindrops, which is what causes an ordinary rainbow.

According to Physics.org, upside down rainbows are more common in cold climates, but still fairly rare.
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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall brings chaos to roads across northern and central Spain


The Local (Spain)
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 11:10 UTC
snow map
Heavy snow and freezing temperatures have brought chaos to roads across northern and central Spain once more.

Snowdrifts have forced the closure of main thoroughfares in Castilla y León, Cantabria, Asturias and the mountainous regions of Aragon, the Basque Country and even Madrid and parts of the Balearic Islands.

Spain's national weather agency have issued weather warnings in 33 provinces across the peninsula and Balearic Islands in a cold snap that is expected to continue over the weekend and into next week.

Sections of motorway remain closed Friday morning, including parts of AP-6, la AP-51, la AP-61, la A-1 and la A-15.
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Boat

Venice water levels lowest since records began - and it's sinking (PHOTOS)

Devika Desai
National Post
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 23:18 UTC
A gondola is seen tied up in Venice, near the Rialto bridge, on January 31, 2018, as exceptionally low tides have drained the lagoon city.
© VINCENZO PINTO / AFP/ GETTY IMAGESA gondola is seen tied up in Venice, near the Rialto bridge, on January 31, 2018, as exceptionally low tides have drained the lagoon city.
Photographs taken this week show the famed Venetian gondolas helplessly abandoned on the docks, as the low tides caused by Wednesday's 'super blue blood moon' dry up the canals, robbing gondoliers of their money and residents of their transportation.

This is the third year that Venice has experienced record low water levels, with data showing a decrease of up to 60 cm lower than average. Two years ago, the city reported water levels up to 70 cm below normal levels, the lowest ever recorded in city data, according to Express.
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Binoculars

Rare moon dogs light up the skies over Winnipeg, Manitoba


CBC News
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 10:28 UTC
Moon dogs over Winnipeg, Manitoba
© Scott McCulloughMoon dogs appeared in the Manitoba sky early Thursday morning.
Winnipeggers were treated to a relatively rare sight in the inky sky early Thursday before sunrise.

Bright spots, known as moon dogs, were visible on both sides of a halo that ringed the moon.

The lunar halo and spots only happen when there are ice crystals in the air and the moon is bright enough - quarter moon or more - to shine light that can be refracted by the crystals, according to The Stargazer's Guide to the Night Sky.

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Attention

Southern California's drought deepens dramatically

Ellen Knickmeyer & Rich Pedroncelli
PhysOrg
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 21:11 UTC
Los Angeles skyline
© AP Photo/Damian DovarganesIn this Dec. 14, 2017 file photo, Los Angeles skyline is seen through burned trees after a brush fire erupted in the hills in Elysian Park in Los Angeles.
California is rapidly plunging back into drought, with severe conditions now existing in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties-home to one-fourth of the state's population, a national drought monitor said Thursday.

The weekly report released by the U.S. Drought Monitor, a project of government agencies and other partners, also shows 44 percent of the state is now considered to be in a moderate drought. It's a dramatic jump from just last week, when the figure was 13 percent.

"It's not nearly where we'd like to be," Frank Gehrke, a state official, acknowledged after separately carrying out manual measurements of winter snowfall in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which supplies water to millions of Californians in a good, wet year.

Overall, the vital snowpack Thursday stood at less than a third of normal for the date.
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Question

What's causing the loud booms heard in Springfield, Missouri?

Giacomo Bologna
Springfield News-Leader
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 15:25 UTC
Mystery boom (stock)
© Getty Images
No, you're not crazy.

Those loud booms you've been hearing? The city of Springfield wants to know more about them.

City spokeswoman Cora Scott said Wednesday that the city has received two formal service requests and nine calls about the booms in the past few weeks.

And after more booms were heard early Wednesday morning, many more people are chirping about the booms on social media.

Scott said the city wants residents who have "experienced hearing or feeling" the booms to contact them with the exact time, date and location. Residents can call 417-864-1010, email city@springfieldmo.gov or post on the city's Facebook page.

Angela Edwards, 47, has lived her whole life in Springfield and said she has never heard anything like what she heard early Wednesday morning. "This is something huge. This is something big ... I wouldn't know how to describe it. It was like a deep, loud boom," Edwards said. "It wasn't normal - whatever it was."
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Cloud Precipitation

France: Winter 2017-18 had the most rain and least sun


The Connexion
Sun, 28 Jan 2018 19:45 UTC
stormy skies
This winter has officially been one of the rainiest and least sunny on record.
This winter has officially been one of the rainiest and least sunny on record, according to a forecaster at Météo France.

The period from December 2017 to January 2018 has seen between 30% and 50% less sun than the usual seasonal average, and a significant part of the country has been affected by much higher-than-usual rainfall, according to Olivier Proust, a national forecaster, speaking to news website France Info.

This will come as no surprise to many, with several regions - including Ile-de-France - continuing to be at risk of floods and broken riverbanks.

The Seine river is said to have reached a peak of 5.95 metres in Paris today (Sunday January 28), and in the town of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Val-de-Marne, just two days ago, over 390 people had been evacuated from their homes, and over 14,000 households were left without electricity power due to catastrophic flood levels.

Comment: A dark December: In one month Moscow totals 6 minutes of sunlight while Belgium bears just 10.5 hours

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