Earth Changes
The spectacular images show the whirlwind spreading on the banks of the GO-210 motorway near Santa Helena de Goiás, central west Brazil.
It relentlessly flashes its luminous orange flames as local workers step back to watch the spectacle, before the camera turns to the barren and dried land surrounding the blaze.
Otherwise known as a 'fire devil', the bright flame arcs towards the sky with explosions at the base and a rising vortex towards its core.
It is the result of a clash between intense heat and turbulent wind conditions - and can reach a staggering 1,090 degrees.
Farm workers were clearing the land when the rare spectacle occurred.
At the time, the climate in the region was very dry and those at the scene reported the open country area was hit by strong winds.
It was reported at 5:52 p.m. in the 21000 block of Horseshoe Trail, Riverside County Fire Department spokesman Rob Roseen said.
The blaze was first reported at 10 acres but jumped to 75 acres by 6:40 p.m., Roseen said. Officials said the fire had grown to 100 acres by 8:40 p.m. There was no containment.
"The first arriving engine reported the fire burning in heavy fuels with a moderate rate of spread," he said.
Erik Engström, a meteorologist at state weather forecaster SMHI told broadcaster TV4 that the high frequency of thunder and lightning came down to warm weather.
"This summer we had a lot of warm, wet air coming in over the country and that's one of the main pre-conditions for storms," he said.
The landslide triggered by a heavy rain had struck the house at Chherlowang of Thawang Rural Municiplaity-2, at midnight.
Bodies of Thir Kumari Jhankri Budha, 28, and her son Ashal Budha, 4, were recovered this morning.
According to Ward Chairperson Basant Rokka, bodies of Jaya Budha, 38, his wife Muljyoti Budha, 36 and their daughters Devasti, 9, and Karishna, 2, were dug out of the rubble this afternoon.
Since June 1 2018, NOAA has received reports of 282 dead ice seals in the Bering and Chukchi seas. In 2018, there were 119 ice seal strandings reported, while 163 have already reported this year. NOAA said they typically receive reports of about 29 ice seal strandings a year.
By mid-June this summer, communities along Alaska's western coast were noticing scores of dead ice seals.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has recorded 422,000 lightning strikes this year in the province, far above the 18-year average of 266,000. July alone saw 264,344 lightning strikes, said meteorologist Matt MacDonald.
"Leading into the summer people were on edge for another record wildfire season, given how dry it was this spring," he said.
In June, July and August — the meteorological summer — total rainfall was actually below normal in many parts of B.C. and it could have gone terribly wrong for our parched forests. But instead of long, warm spells punctuated by dry lightning storms, electrical activity was accompanied by rain.
Comment: Lightning strikes are occurring in record numbers everywhere:
210,000 lightning strikes recorded in Sweden this year, a six-fold increase on 2017
The crew of RT's documentary channel, RTDoc, was out filming bears and walruses on the remote Chukotka Peninsula in Russia's Far East, when a large polar bear suddenly emerged on top of a slate hill, stunning the reporters. The journalists and their guide tried to fend off the animal as it stood just meters away, making loud noises and banging a spear against the rocks. The tactic seemed to work, as the bear left after a brief but intense standoff.
The time of the demise of the mammoths is also known as the Younger Dryas, a period of global cooling that lasted from 12,900 to 11,700 years ago (10,900 B.C. to 9,700 B.C.) during which surface temperatures dropped by approximately 7°C.
In theory, such a severe cooling should increase the volume of polar ice and, as a result, reduce sea level. However, during the Younger Dryas, sea levels rose 17 meters over more than a millennium, as illustrated by the graph below.
If the sea level rose while ice caps were building up, it's possible that the source of the water was external. But where could this water have come from?
Coincidentally or not, most of Mars' Northern hemisphere was once covered with water, and this ocean has mysteriously disappeared. So where did the Martian water go?















Comment: Video from other local news: