Welcome to Sott.net
Wed, 27 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Earth Changes
Map

Snowflake

Ski area of Les Paccots in Switzerland claims 3.5m (almost 12 feet) of snow in 7 days; second resort has 9ft in 72 hours

Patrick Thorne
In the snow
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 10:22 UTC
snow
The huge snowfalls in the Alps have continued through the past 10 days and Eastern Switzerland seems to be at the heart of the perfect snow storm.

The small Eastern Swiss ski area of Les Paccots claims to have received 3.5 metres of snowfall (nearly 12 feet) over the past even days, with accumulations of up to a metre in 24 hours.

The centre is not yet fully open for the season, opening at weekends before Christmas, but says it will be operating on Wednesday 20th December then daily from Friday 23rd December.

All the snow has not been without problems though, a tree came down on a lift cable last week forcing the centre to close until the cable was replaced.
      Read More...
Attention

New brief lava flow at Stromboli volcano, Italy; activity remains elevated


Volcano Discovery
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 10:11 UTC
Stromboli volcano

Stromboli volcano
Yesterday's lava flow was only short-lived. The overflow from the crater terrace over the northeastern crater rim stopped in the evening. Volcanic activity (strombolian explosions) remains elevated as the magma continues to stand high in the conduits.

The current situation of the volcano resembles the one from January 2013 when lava frequently over-spilled the crater rims, producing numerous smaller and larger lava flows on the upper Sciara del Fuoco.

      Read More...
No Entry

Third sea lion attack in a week prompts swimming ban at San Francisco's aquatic park

Rong-Gong Lin II and Brittny Mejia
LA Times
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 23:45 UTC
sea lions bark at each other at Pier 39 in San Francisco
© Eric Risberg / Associated Press
A third attack by a sea mammal in San Francisco in a week has prompted officials to ban swimming in the Aquatic Park Cove. In this Oct. 15, 2010 file photo, sea lions bark at each other at Pier 39 in San Francisco, which is east of Aquatic Park Cove.
A third attack by a sea mammal in San Francisco in a week has prompted officials to ban swimming in the Aquatic Park Cove on the northern edge of the city's waterfront.

"The Aquatic Park Cove has been closed to swimming due to reports of an aggressive marine mammal biting swimmers in the area," the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park tweeted Friday.

The closure is scheduled at least through Monday.

Comment: See also: Sea lion attacks swimmers on consecutive days in San Francisco Bay

      Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

More than 30 dead, 90k evacuated after Tropical Storm Urduja (Kai-Tak) hits Philippines

Jonathan Belles
The Weather Channel
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 09:30 UTC
Tropical Depression Urduja hits Philippines
© AFP PHOTO / ALREN BERONIO
A mother sits with her children on fallen banana trees in Barangay San Mateo Borongan in eastern Samar on December 17, 2017, after Tropical Depression Urduja (International name Kai-Tak) blew through the area.
More than 30 people in the Philippines and have been killed and others are missing after Tropical Storm Kai-Tak drenched the country with heavy rainfall that caused flooding and landslides.

Kai-Tak, known as Urduja in the Philippines, has been crawling slowly westward over the Philippines since late last week. Eastern portions of Visayas, including Samar, have received more than 35 inches of rainfall since Dec. 13.

Sofronio Dacillo Jr., a disaster-response officer, said 26 villagers died and 23 others were missing mostly due to landslides in different areas in the island province of Biliran.

At least seven other people were killed in landslides and floods in four central areas due to Kai-tak.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said it was trying to confirm the reported deaths caused by the storm, which forced more than 89,000 people to flee to emergency shelters. Thousands of Christmas holiday travelers were stranded due to canceled inter-island ferries and flights.


Comment: Deadly Tropical Storm Urduja (Kai-Tak) dumps over 1000 mm of rain on Philippines

      Read More...
Ice Cube

Rising seas could displace 150 million people by the end of this century, says climate report


RT
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 14:37 UTC
Iceburg
© Alister Doyle / Reuters
A view of icebergs remaining after a break-up of Wilkins ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, January 19, 2009.
Lands inhabited by more than 150 million people could be submerged in water by the end of this century. That's according to the latest projections from a group of US researchers.

A new study published in the journal Earth's Future used the latest information from the Antarctic ice sheet and combined it with existing models on the expected rise in sea levels.

The academics behind the report found that if levels of greenhouse gas emission remain high, the median global average sea-level rise could be 4ft 9ins (1.5 meters) by 2100. Astonishingly, this is double the estimate of 2ft 5ins (736cm) projected by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2014.

The team, made up of researchers from the top universities in the US, believes the IPCC report did not account for the collapse of large parts of the Antarctic Ice Sheet - something a slew of scientific papers have since found is very likely to happen. In the event of such a sea level rise, some 153 million will be displaced, a population equivalent to half the size of the US.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Ice Cube

Earliest ice formation in 71 years on the Han River, South Korea

Mee-Jee Lee
The Dong-A Ilbo
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 15:18 UTC
Seoul’s Han River Sees Earliest Ice Formation in 71 Years
© Yonhap
Seoul’s Han River sees earliest ice formation in 71 years
Kim In-sik, head of the Seoul Weather Station, stood on the Han River Bridge and looked down on the river for about two and a half hours since 5 a.m. He slapped his lap. At the dawn's light, it was definitely ice on the shining surface of the river. After two nights amid severe cold weather, the day set a record for the earliest ice formation on the Han River since 1946.

A five-day cold spell has led to ice formation on the Han River one month earlier than expected. The Korea Meteorological Administration said that the earliest ice formation of this winter was observed at the Han River Bridge at the dawn of Friday. The ice was formed between second and fourth piers on the Noryangjin side. This has been the first ice formation on the Han River before December 15 in 71 years since December 12, 1946.
      Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Mudslide fuelled by heavy rains buries village in southern Chile; 5 people killed with 15 more missing

Sophie Inge
Daily Mail
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 13:16 UTC
Rain caused a river to overflow and the side of a hill to collapse, burying 20 of the 200 houses in Villa Santa Lucia in the Los Lagos region

Rain caused a river to overflow and the side of a hill to collapse, burying 20 of the 200 houses in Villa Santa Lucia in the Los Lagos region
A mudslide fuelled by heavy rains has swept over a village in southern Chile, leaving at least five people dead and 15 missing, officials said.

Rain caused a river to overflow and the side of a hill to collapse, burying 20 of the 200 houses in Villa Santa Lucia in the Los Lagos region, located 790 miles south of Chile's capital, Santiago.

President Michelle Bachelet declared the region a catastrophe zone and confirmed the number of dead and missing.

She met with her team of ministers to coordinate rescue and assistance efforts.

Earlier on Saturday, deputy secretary of the interior Madmud Aleuy said there were three people dead, including an unidentified tourist, and 15 others missing.

      Read More...
Camcorder

Hiker captures incredible footage from inside erupting Mount Agung, Indonesia

Tom Barnes
The Independent
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 21:35 UTC
The man appears to be standing right above the heart of Mount Agung as the volcanic lava threatens to explode from its fiery depths

The man appears to be standing right above the heart of Mount Agung as the volcanic lava threatens to explode from its fiery depths
A hiker has captured incredible footage by risking life and limb to film inside an erupting volcano.

Bali resident Ikomang Giri scaled the active volcano Mount Agung on Wednesday in order to record from its peak.

The video, later uploaded to Facebook, shows thick clouds of ash streaming from the volcano during an eruption.

The film has since gone viral on the social network, being viewed almost 900,000 times.

      Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Coldest summer for 100 years in Queensland, Australia

Harriet Tatham
ABC News
Wed, 06 Dec 2017 04:56 UTC
Coldest summer in 100 years in Queensland Australia as
© Jack Vonhoff
Mount Isa had its lowest overnight December temperate ever on record last night at 12 C, which was 11C below average.
While sweat and Queensland summer go hand-in-hard, people in the state's west are reaching for cardigans as overnight December temperatures break record lows.

From Birdsville to the Gulf of Carpentaria, temperatures dropped to 11 degrees Celsius below average - a phenomenon forecasters describe as "very unusual".
"I've been forecasting for a few decades now and I can't really remember anything quite this spectacular as far as dry and cool at this time of year," said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster David Bernard.
"It's the sort of thing we often see in winter which usually leads to really cold winter nights, but we don't often see it in December."
      Read More...
Snowflake

With nearly 83 inches, Redfield is New York's snowiest place with winter yet to officially start

Natasha Vaughn
Democrat and Chronicle
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:00 UTC
Snow in upstate New York

Snow in upstate New York
Winter has yet to officially start, but snow is already piling up in some parts of upstate New York.

According to the National Weather Service, the areas with the most snow are in Oswego and Lewis counties — which get clobbered each year with snow drifting across the eastern edge of Lake Ontario.

And it's the usual places: the tiny town of Redfield in Oswego County is leading the state with 82.6 inches of snow as of Friday.

So at this rate, Redfield is on pace for its second straight national recognition: Last year it won the USA Today Network's first annual Golden Snowdrift Award after getting 350.5 inches of snow -- which equals more than 29 feet.

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts