Earth ChangesS


Doberman

America's dog bite crisis: Statistic reveal a big uptick

bbbbb
Dog Bites Have Been Getting Worse for 15 Years and the Numbers Are Disturbing.

Dog attacks in the United States have reached alarming levels, with thousands of people suffering serious injuries every year. Over the past 15 years, fatal dog attacks and bite-related injuries have continued to rise, leaving victims with life-altering consequences. The financial burden of these incidents is staggering, and certain breeds are linked to a disproportionate number of attacks.

This ongoing crisis is affecting children, adults, and even entire communities. Some states consistently report higher numbers of attacks, and the cost of medical care, lawsuits, and insurance claims continues to climb. Understanding the full scope of this issue is essential for finding real solutions. These numbers tell a story that many people are not prepared to hear.

Comment: More on the increasing number of fatal and also non-fatal but atypical attacks on humans by other species of the animal kingdom in recent years can be found here.


Doberman

Baby boy dies after pet dog attack in home west of Edmonton, Canada

mmmmmm
A 14-day-old baby boy has died after a dog attack in a community west of Edmonton.

Evansburg RCMP were called to assist emergency medical services at around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, in the area of Entwistle, Alta., about 100 kilometres from Edmonton.

Police said a pet dog had bitten the newborn inside a residence.

The baby was airlifted to the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton with a serious, life-threatening injury.

Despite efforts of medical professionals, the baby was declared dead, police said in a news release on Monday afternoon.

RCMP Const. Julie-Ann Strilaiff said police are still investigating the death.

Cloud Precipitation

10 dead as severe rain, flooding and lows of -42C hit multiple states

flooding tennessee
© Associated PressWater rising along the Cumberland River in Clarksville, Tennessee.
A mother and seven-year-old child are among those who have been killed in Kentucky, where high flood waters have swept away cars.

At least 10 people, including a mother and seven-year-old child, have been killed amid harsh weather in the US. Storms and severe flooding have hit areas of Kentucky, leaving nine dead and hundreds of others in need of rescue.

Elsewhere, a person in Atlanta was killed when an "extremely large tree" fell on a home on Sunday, Atlanta Fire Rescue said.

Officials have warned the death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continue.

Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said: "This is one of the most serious weather events we've dealt with in at least a decade."

Cloud Lightning

Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Zelia slams Western Australia's iron ore hub with wind gusts up to 180 mph

mmmm
Tropical Cyclone Zelia made landfall on Australia's west coast on Friday, the weather bureau said, lashing the world's largest iron ore hub with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 180 miles an hour.

The eye of the storm crossed the coast east of Port Hedland just after 12 p.m. (11 p.m. ET Thursday) as a category five cyclone, the highest rating on the scale.

It then moved south and weakened to a category four, sparing the town's population center from its most destructive winds.

"This is a very dangerous system that will cause significant impact and is causing impacts as we speak," said Matthew Collopy, a forecaster with Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.

Cyclone Zelia is the most severe storm to hit the Pilbara coast since Cyclone Ilsa in April 2023.


Lightning

Lightning strike kills 7 cows, 6 of them pregnant, on Alabama family farm

MMMMM
An Alabama family is grieving the loss of seven cows --six of them pregnant -- killed in a lightning strike during severe weather.

Drew Donaldson, a pharmacist from Damascus, in unincorporated Coffee County, discovered the devastation Thursday morning as he went to check on the 150 cows and calves on his family's 150-acre farm.

Donaldson found the carcasses of six cows and one calf beside a tree struck by lightning, he told AL.com's Rick Karle.

The cows were expected to give birth any day.

Seismograph

Shallow magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes Ethiopia, monitoring agencies say

nnnnn
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck central Ethiopia on Friday, multiple earthquake monitoring agencies said.

The earthquake struck near Ethiopia's largest and most populous region, Oromiya with a population of nearly half a million, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The temblor was shallow, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

Users took to social media platform X to share solidarity with those affected by the earthquake.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties from the earthquake.

The regions of Oromiya and Afar have been experiencing an intense seismo-volcanic activity that has forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and caused extensive infrastructure damage since December.

For the past few weeks, Afar and Oromiya have been shaken by a multitude of minor quakes after a nearby volcano began showing signs of imminent eruption at the start of the year.

Comment: Also pertinent: Dofen mountain (Afar region, Ethiopia): volcano in the area of ongoing quakes starts erupting jets of steam and mud


Tsunami

Severe flooding hits the Greek island of Kefalonia- families trapped, roads and homes submerged

mmmmm
Heavy rainfall on Thursday night and early Friday morning has caused widespread disruption across Kefalonia, leaving families trapped in vehicles, flooding homes and streets, and triggering landslides and debris flows.

The region of Livathous, in the southern part of the island, bore the brunt of the extreme weather conditions, with significant damage reported to the road network, transport links, and infrastructure. According to local media, parents and children were trapped in their cars, while many drivers were stranded for hours as they attempted to leave the area.

Traffic was severely disrupted, with vehicles arriving from Kyllini being forced to take a longer detour through Sami to reach Argostoli. Some residents were also compelled to find alternative routes to reach the island's capital.

The situation was particularly dire in Karouza, where landslides once again blocked roads, prompting emergency crews from the regional authority to work on clearing access routes. The Argostoli-Poros road was rendered impassable near Vlachata, close to the local cemetery, due to land subsidence and water accumulation.


Snowflake Cold

Mammoth Mountain in California welcomes 3 feet of snow in a day from recent storm

mmmmm
© Cody Mathison
The recent storm turned Mammoth Mountain Resort into a snow globe.

Officials with the ski resort have measured 3 feet of snow from Thursday's storm and more is forecasted for Friday.

Emily Van Greuning a communications Manager at Mammoth Mountain the the resort is making sure everything is running smoothly but also welcomes the snow.

"This is Mammoth Mountain's biggest storm of the season thus far. We have currently received over 3 feet of new snow at the summit today and significant additional snowfall is expected to continue through tomorrow before things start to clear over the weekend. Our Operations and Ski Patrol Teams are out on the mountain working diligently to assess conditions and open terrain safely. Our employees and our community are very excited for this. February is really turning on for us here in Mammoth and conditions over the holiday weekend are going to be fantastic."


Tsunami

Severe flash floods hit Elba Island, Italy - residents rescued - 2.5 inches of rain in just 1 hour

mmmmm
Heavy rain leads to emergency operations as Portoferraio faces significant damage and danger.

Severe flash floods have wreaked havoc on Elba Island, particularly affecting the main town of Portoferraio, where over 65 millimeters of rain fell within just one hour. This deluge has led to extensive flooding, with city officials and emergency services scrambling to respond to the crisis.

The local mayor took to social media to warn citizens of the dire situation, stating, "Emergency flood situation. The situation is extremely serious in Portoferraio. Do not use cars, do not come toward Portoferraio, and do not try to leave; access routes are blocked." This urgent message highlights the serious risks posed to residents caught off guard by the sudden and intense storm.


Doberman

48 people killed in dog attacks across England and Wales between 2019 and 2024

The XL Bully has been linked to violent attacks on humans
© Jacob KingThe XL Bully has been linked to violent attacks on humans
The North West of England had the highest number of fatal dog attacks of any region over the past five years.

In total, 48 people across England and Wales died after being bitten or struck by a dog between 2019 and 2024, according to data obtained by The i Paper.

Thirteen people were killed in the North West - more than a quarter of all dog-related deaths.

Dog attacks remain rare and there is often no single reason behind them.

However, the number of fatal attacks in England and Wales peaked in 2022 when 19 people died.

The rise could be in part down to the fact more people own dogs, but also the popularity of XL Bullies - a breed linked to violent attacks on humans. Experts also said criminal gangs breeding dangerous dogs for profit and under-prepared owners who bought pets during the pandemic may have contributed to the attacks.