Earth Changes

Minke whale found dead off Scotland's west coast

Chris Foote
STV News
Fri, 14 Jul 2017 16:02 UTC

The female minke's body washed up in a remote part of the Ardnamurchan peninsula last week.

Her tail is believed to have become tangled in a creel rope off the Isle of Mull.

The minke, who was healthy at the time of her death, was one of a number of whales seen around the island in recent weeks.

Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust science officer Dr Lauren Hartny-Mills said: "In this case the timely reporting of the dead whale, even at sea, enabled us to track its movements, access it when it stranded and determine the cause of death.

Monster storm batters the city of Chengdu, China

Tracy You
Daily Mail
Fri, 14 Jul 2017 12:54 UTC

A huge explosion occurred in the city centre at around 6pm after power cables caught fire

A heavy rainstorm yesterday ravaged the Chinese city of Chengdu during evening rush hours, causing traffic chaos.

Terrifying video clips circulating on social media show high wind gusts pushing cars on the road like toys and smashing down the glass doors of an office building.

The extreme weather also caused a huge explosion in the city centre after power cables caught fire, according to local reports.

The storm is said to be the most severe one that has struck Chengdu this year, reported Sichuan News.

It began at around 5pm local time yesterday and lasted for about three hours.

Traffic came to a grinding halt as the high winds and heavy rain battered the provincial capital city of 16 million residents.

Stunning amount of dead animal and fish species recorded in the first 12 days of July

Gary Walton
The Big Wobble
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 11:49 UTC

Massive die off of fish in a nature reserve in southern Gambia, see below

The Big Wobble's weekly look back at mass animal die off's in diverse places around the world.

10th July 2017 - rpp noticias reports 40+ dead Sea Lions and 2 dead Whales found along the coast of Lambayeque, Peru.

According to reports, the stranding of marine species occurred as a result of the high tide that has been occurring for several days along the coast, which is why the Maritime Captaincy ordered the closure of the docks and coves of the Lambayeque region, for prevention.

2017 Fire Season in Nevada is one of the worst in 15 years

Paul Nelson
ktvn.com
Fri, 14 Jul 2017 11:08 UTC

Farad fire burning near Nevada-California state line

The peak of fire season traditionally runs between mid-July and September, but wildfires have already burned nearly 250,000 acres more than the 15-year annual average. Since January, fires have burned 586,800 acres in Nevada. Since 2002, the average is 340,207 acres per year.

"Right now, it's hot, dry, and has been since the middle of June," John Christopherson, Natural Resource Program Manager for the Nevada Division of Forestry said. "So things are ready to ignite."

This year's total acreage is the fifth-most in the last 15 years, with a lot of time left. Christopherson says if this trend keeps up, fires could burn 1 million acres in Nevada this year. The last time that happened was in 2006, when more than 1.3 million acres burned. Fuel loads are double, and even triple what they normally are this year, thanks to an abundance of cheatgrass.

"It's not just the load, itself, or the volume of the fuel but it's also the continuity," Christopherson said. "They're pretty much continuous and so when something ignites, it goes big."

New Zealand hit by huge swells and constant snow after three days of storms

9news
Fri, 14 Jul 2017 05:17 UTC

Swell lines charging across the open sea have left passengers crossing New Zealand's Cook Strait grasping for something steady to keep them upright.

Video of the treacherous crossing shows the ferry Interislander crashing through walls of water whipped up by three days of storms.

Passenger Nathan Pilcher told stuff.co.uk it was like a 90-minute rollercoaster.

"Everyone was sitting on the floor, holding on, sitting down with vomit bags and people were lying down in the toilets," he said.

Pilcher said the lengthy journey was made even worse by the nagging "smell of vomit".

On Wednesday, the Kaliarahi ferry was close to running out of vomit bags when the vessel battled seven-metre-high swells.

The high seas were caused by winds as strong as 167kph.

'Mountain of God' volcano preparing to erupt in Tanzania

Michael Greshko
National Geographic
Thu, 13 Jul 2017 15:39 UTC

The East African peak looms over a modern city as well as three major sites featuring signs of early humans.

An active volcano in northeastern Tanzania known to the Maasai as the "Mountain of God" has been quietly rumbling—and it is showing signs that an eruption is imminent.

Known as Ol Doinyo Lengai, the 7,650-foot-tall peak is the only known active volcano that belches out lava rich with a type of rock called carbonatite. This thin, silvery lava can flow faster than a person can run. (Read more about the volcano from our January 2003 issue.)

The volcano is some 70 miles from the city of Arusha and is known for its proximity to some of the world's most important paleoanthropological sites. Ol Doinyo Lengai is less than 70 miles from the famed Olduvai Gorge, a collection of 3.6-million-year-old hominin footprints at a site called Laetoli, and a "dance hall" of ancient Homo sapiens footprints at a site called Engare Sero.

Typically, the volcano's activity is confined to its summit. But occasionally, the Mountain of God can roar to life in more dramatic fashion: On September 4, 2007, the volcano belched out a plume of ash that extended at least 11 miles downwind. Lava running down the north and west flanks ignited burn scars that were visible from space.

Dead humpback whale washes up on beach in Coonarr, Australia

Ashley Clark
News Mail
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 19:28 UTC

When Matt Stoker and his camping friends were driving down the beach at Coonarr on Monday, what they thought were logs in the distance turned out to be something much bigger.

The friends had come across a giant whale carcass washed up at the Theodolite Creek end of the beach.

"It definitely wasn't there when we arrived but the next day, as we were driving back down the beach, we saw what looked like logs in the distance," he said.

"As we got closer we realised what it was.

"None of us have ever seen anything like it - it was massive."

Northern suburbs of Chicago hit hard by heavy rains, flooding

chicago.cbslocal.com
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 18:39 UTC

Round Lake Beach, IL

Heavy storms that rolled through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning left behind significant flooding in some northern suburbs, leaving many basements inundated with water, and some roads closed to traffic.

According to the National Weather Service, some suburbs got 4 to 7 inches of rain from the storms before dawn - Round Lake Park got 7.13 inches, Mundelein got 6.75 inches, Lake Bluff got 5.38 inches, Lake Villa got 5.31 inches, and Fox Lake got 4.46 inches. Even more rain was falling throughout Wednesday morning, with some areas getting another 1 to 2 inches.

Heavy rainfall from overnight causing dangerous travel this morning. Please use caution today! #ilwx pic.twitter.com/J0hfuza3iB

— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) July 12, 2017

In Mundelein, it seemed at times like piling on; everything from rain, high winds, thunder and lightning, and hail.

Mundelein Fire Chief Bill Lark said crews evacuated about 20 people from a senior living apartment complex at Route 45 and Division, due to flooding at the one-story building.

Tourists evacuated from Sicily as hundreds of wildfires rage across Italy

Eric Leister and Kristina Pydynowski
AccuWeather
Thu, 13 Jul 2017 11:45 UTC

© Italian Firefighters Vigili del Fuoco via AP
Woodland fires burn near a tourist resort where, according to firefighter reports, some several hundred tourists have been evacuated by land and sea, in the Sicilian town of San Vito lo Capo, southern Italy, on 12 July 2017.

At least 700 tourists in Sicily were the latest to be displaced by the hundreds of wildfires raging across Italy.

A threatening wildfire forced many of the tourists to flee the seaside resort of Calampiso, located on the northwestern tip of Sicily, by boat on Wednesday.

BBC News reports that around 700 tourists were evacuated, while The Local claims the figure is closer to 1,000.

Approximately 10 people sought medical care at the hospital for smoke inhalation.

Two people have been killed as a result of the fires, The Local reported. One man died while trying to extinguish a fire near his property in the Cosenza province. Another man was found dead in the Vibo Valentia province.