Earth Changes

Heavy snowfall and extreme cold sweeps across Europe

Robert W. Felix
Ice Age Now
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:21 UTC

© Angelika Warmuth
A man shovels his car free of snow after days of snowfall in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. -

Freezing temperatures crack railroad tracks in Poland, snow blankets most of the Turkish city of Istanbul.
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During the weekend and on Monday, January 18, most of Turkey was at the mercy of a cyclone that formed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

On January 19, the temperature in Istanbul at night dropped to -5 ..- 6ºC, in Ankara it was freezing to -13 ..- 15ºC. The temperature dropped below normal by 4-8 degrees. And in coming days, the cold in Turkey will continue.

Sakurajima volcano (Kyushu, Japan): glowing lava bombs thrown from crater

Volcano Discovery
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:52 UTC

Large amount of black dense ash emissions from Sakurajima volcano yesterday

The explosive activity of the volcano continues without significant changes since the last update.

Surveillance cameras observed a moderate vulcanian-type explosion at Minamidake crater producing an ash plume that reached up to estimated 7,000 ft (2,100 m) altitude and drifted SE.

The eruption that started at about 23:09 local time yesterday ejected glowing lava bombs as far as 600 m-900 m away from the crater. The explosion was also accompanied by volcanic lightning occurred in the beginning of the event.

Visible glow and near-constant emissions of gas suggest continued rise of fresh magma inside the volcano's conduits.

3 inches of summer snow hits South Island, New Zealand

New Zealand Herald
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:31 UTC

Winter has come a little too early for parts of the South Island.

A cold snap brought around 8cm of snow to the Cardrona Alpine Resort today.

The mountain's usual summertime activities have even gone on hold for the day.

Cardrona spokeswoman Jen Houltham said the warm ground at this time of year means it will likely melt too quickly to be of any use to winter sports enthusiasts.

Houltham said the snow was expected to continue falling all day.

37 landslide incidents following incessant rain in Mambong state, Malaysia

Bernama
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 12:56 UTC

The incessant rain last week resulted in 37 landslide incidents reported in the Mambong state constituency, near here, said its assemblyman, Datuk Dr Jerip Susil.

According to him, three roads connecting Kampung Sadir, Kampung Kiding and Kampung Sepit were affected with the shoulder of the main road to Kuching city collapsing in incessant heavy rain all day.

"Four houses were also damaged in Kampung Garung, Karu, Sadir and Parang respectively due to landslides," he told reporters after observing the gotong-royong work of repairing the house of Nona Budis, 63, in Kampung Garung at KM 40, Jalan Puncak Borneo, today.

He said Nona's house was the most badly damaged after it was heavily covered with soil during a landslide last Thursday night.

Etna volcano erupts in Italy

STORM #7
YouTube
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 12:24 UTC

ETNA Volcano Erupts in Italy 2021. New paroxysmal eruptive episode at Etna's Southeast Crater, Italy.

Volcanic and infrasonic tremors increased at 19:00 UTC on January 18, followed by an eruption at 19:15 UTC, with intense Strombolian activity and a new lava overflow from the Southeast Crater.

The front headed toward Valle del Bove and reached a height of about 2 900 m (9 500 feet). Intense Strombolian activity suddenly evolved into a weak lava fountain reaching maximum intensity at 20:30 UTC.

Shallow M6.8 earthquake hits western Argentina

TRT World
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 04:06 UTC

The earthquake took place in Argentina's San Juan province.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 has struck Argentina's San Juan province, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences said.

The quake hit the west-central province late on Monday at a depth of 10 km, GFZ said.

The US Tsunami Warning System said no tsunami warning has been issued for the earthquake.

There were no immediate reports of serious damages or victims.

The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 and its epicentre was 27.6 km southwest of the town of Porcito.

Bolivia suffers devastating flooding in 7 provinces

When The Earth Is Angry
YouTube
Mon, 18 Jan 2021 19:41 UTC

Torrential floods hit 7 of Bolivia's 9 provinces, with Cochabamba, Beni and Pando provinces hitting hardest.

The floods caused landslides, a large number of houses were destroyed, roads and bridges were washed out, several hundred thousand people were injured.

Bolivia's Meteorological Office predicts heavy rains will continue.

Comment: Elsewhere in South America within the last 4 days:

China's Bohai Bay energy terminals on alert as sea ice slows ships

Muyu Xu and Chen Aizhu
Reuters
Tue, 12 Jan 2021 18:59 UTC

China energy terminals on alert

Chinese ports and marine safety authorities are on high alert as an expansion of sea ice makes it tougher for ships to berth and discharge at key energy product import terminals along the coast of northern Bohai Bay.

A cold wave sweeping the northern hemisphere has plunged temperatures across China to their lowest in decades, boosting demand for power and fuel to historic highs in the world's largest energy consumer.

"The sea ice situation is more severe this year than the same period in previous years," said Wang Jun, a professor specialising in transport issues at Dalian Maritime University.

"It could impede sailing and docking for vessels, no matter how big they are."

Animal attacks worsened during lockdown across Indian state of Uttarakhand, deaths rose from 58 in 2019 to 63 in 2020

Shivani Azad
Times of India
Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:53 UTC

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) worsened in Uttarakhand in 2020, with 63 lives lost to fatal encounters with wild animals, as compared to 58 deaths in 2019. Half of the deaths were caused by leopard attacks, which saw a significant spike in 2020. Leopards killed 31 humans in the hill state in 2020 as compared to 18 in 2019. The data was exclusively accessed by TOI from the Uttarakhand forest department.

Apart from the usual reasons like habitat encroachment that trigger HWC, experts believe deserted roads during the lockdown added to the problem. The lockdown emboldened the big cats, who ventured into human habitats more freely than ever before.

"In the first half of 2020, people stopped going to forests to collect fodder and firewood. The dogs accompanying them, which leopards typically preyed on, also stopped coming. As a result, leopards started entering human habitats more frequently," said chief wildlife warden of Uttarakhand forest department, JS Suhag.

Mount Merapi spews lava, smoke in Indonesia

The Nation (Pakistan)
Mon, 18 Jan 2021 13:55 UTC

Merapi volcano

The Merapi volcano on Java island has begun to spew lava as smoke and ash bellowed 50 meters (164 feet) above its crater following the eruptions on Sunday, Indonesian officials reported.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazar Mitigation (PVMBG) said in a statement that lava flowed from the volcano 36 times within a period of six hours, descending up to 1,500 meters down its southwestern slope.

Authorities currently are not planning to bring back residents who had been evacuated earlier amid previous volcanic activity, warning people not to venture within five kilometers (3.1 miles) of the volcano which is now under "orange" alert status.