Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Hail the size of golf and tennis balls pummels Calgary area, Canada


CBC
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 08:46 UTC
Image
© @erind11/TwitterGolf ball-sized hail struck suddenly in Airdrie, north of Calgary, Thursday afternoon.

Airdrie hail storm likely caused 'gustnado' in Calgary, officials say

Environment Canada says incident was not a tornado but rather a spout from an Airdrie storm

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a - "gustnado?"While police say they did receive several reports of a tornado touching down east of Métis Trail and north of Stoney Trail, Environment Canada says the incident was rather a gustnado, or spout from a nearby storm system battering Airdrie.

The weather agency says the storm system was not over Calgary at the time of the incident and the spiral winds likely came from the nearby storm.Det. Dale Seddon with the Calgary Police Service says the incident didn't cause any damage and hit a grassy area.


Image
© Sarah BuistGolf ball-sized hail in Airdrie has caused damage to some vehicles and properties in the area.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Giant jellyfish spotted in the Adriatic for first time since Second World War

Nick Squires
The Telegraph, UK
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 03:58 UTC
Giant Jellyfish
© Gigi Paderni/ANSAThe bizarre but beautiful creature was first discovered off the coast of Dalmatia in the 1880s by a German naturalist, Ernst Haeckel.
A giant, fuchsia-pink jellyfish has been spotted in the Adriatic Sea for the first time in 70 years.

The Drymonema dalmatinum, which can grow to more than three feet in diameter, was photographed by amateur divers off the northern coast of Italy.

It is one of the rarest jellyfish to occur in the Mediterranean and had not been documented in the Adriatic since 1945.

The bizarre but beautiful creature derives its Latin name from the fact that it was first discovered off the coast of Dalmatia in the 1880s by a German naturalist, Ernst Haeckel.
Read More...
Pirates

Monsanto's 'cure' for world hunger is cursing the global food supply

Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com
Sun, 03 Aug 2014 17:49 UTC
Image
What if the very GM agricultural system that Monsanto claims will help to solve the problem of world hunger depends on a chemical that kills the very pollinator upon which approximately 70% of world's food supply now depends?

A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology titled, "Effects of field-realistic doses of glyphosate on honeybee appetitive behavior," establishes a link between the world's most popular herbicide - aka Roundup - and the dramatic decline in honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations in North American and Europe that lead to the coining of the term 'colony collapse disorder' (CCD) in late 2006 to describe the phenomena.[1]

Comment: Read the following articles to understand WHY colony collapse in bee populations poses serious concerns for the planet as a whole:

Read More...
Bizarro Earth

4.5 Magnitude earthquake rattles Hawaii's Big Island

Hunter Bishop
Big Island Now
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 15:32 UTC
Image
© NSW
A magnitude-4.5 earthquake struck the Big Island at 6:24 a.m. today, the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported.

The earthquake was located beneath the Island of Hawaiʻi and no damaging tsunami was generated.

Wes Thelen, HVO's Seismic Network Manager, said the earthquake was centered about four miles east-northeast of Kawaihae and nine miles west-northwest of Waimea, at a depth of 10.4 miles.

The USGS "Did you feel it?" Web site received more than 145 felt reports within an hour of the earthquake, HVO said. Only light shaking was reported. Most reports were posted from the Islands of Hawai'i and Maui. There were also a few reports from the Kahuku and Hickam areas on Oʻahu, over 155 miles from the epicenter, HVO reported.

Over the past 50 years, the area around Kawaihae has experienced 11 earthquakes greater than magnitude-4.0, including today's event, at depths of 6 - 12 miles. Deep earthquakes in this region are most likely caused by structural adjustments within the Earth's crust to accommodate the heavy load of Mauna Kea and surrounding volcanoes. Today's earthquake is in the general region of the 2006 Māhukona earthquake, but is not close enough to the 2006 event to be an aftershock of it.

Comment: And they have this to deal with as well: Hawaii in the path of two hurricanes, first hurricane in 22 years

Read More...
Attention

Mysterious noises emanating from volcano in Iceland

Paul Fontaine
grapevine.is
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 15:35 UTC
Image
Strange rumblings coming from the tuya Herðubreið are confounding observers as to their possible source.

Vísir reports that visitors to the mesa-shaped volcano in northeast Iceland have been unable to determine if the persistent rumblings coming from Herðubreið are being caused by an avalanche, landslide, or something else entirely. Rangers around Herðubreið were the first to announce the rumblings, which lasted about 30 seconds.

Yesterday, Icelandic rescuers who had been searching for a group of French tourists found them at the foot of Herðubreið safe and sound, although they said there had been an avalanche. News of the avalanche was reported, but upon further inspection, no evidence of an avalanche could be found - except for the rumbling.

Avalanches have been reported from mountains all over Iceland recently, which is highly unusual for the summer months. Tómas Jóhannesson, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told reporters that they intend to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Powerful lightning strike sinks Swedish sailboat


thelocal.se
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 14:38 UTC
Image
© File photo: Rob Faulkner/Flickr
A sailboat in Stockholm sank on Thursday morning after it was hit by lightning, the latest chapter of Sweden's wild summer weather.

Powerful thunderstorms in the counties of Stockholm and Uppsala left thousands of households without power on Thursday morning. Multiple incidents of flooding and other alarms related to the weather have also been reported.

But the most dramatic scene was found in Saltsjöbaden, just outside of Stockholm.

"It was an unmanned boat moored in the lake," Björn Wrandel at the Sea Rescue Centre told news agency TT. "Apparently the lightning struck a huge hole in the boat and it sank incredibly quickly."

No one was injured in the incident.

Sweden's weather agency has issued a warning for extreme thunderstorms in Stockholm and Uppsala during the morning.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Grapes and other crops damaged by intense hailstorm in Hector, New York

Jeff Murray
Star Gazette
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:16 UTC
Image
© MICHAEL J. FITZGERALD / CORRESPONDENT PHOTORiesling grapes were split by hail on Tuesday at Sawmill Creek in Hector.
An isolated but intense hailstorm caused serious damage to grapes and other crops in the Hector area Tuesday.

The storm swept in about 3:30 p.m. and brought high winds, hail and heavy rain.

Some vineyards were minimally affected by the storm, but others weren't as lucky.

"I was at my other job at Hazlitt (1852 Vineyards) when the storm hit. My kids were home at the time. They said they saw some hail that was golf ball size," said Fred Wickham, owner of Tango Oaks Farm in Hector.

"I went out late (Tuesday) and did a crop assessment. In addition to wine grapes, I grow peaches that I sell fresh. They were already compromised by the excessively long and cold winter. It's 100 percent loss on the peaches. They were pulverized by the hail.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Deadly floods return to Serbia and Bosnia


BBC
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:14 UTC
Bosnia flooding
© APMany bridges have been damaged or swept away by rivers bursting their banks.
At least one person has reportedly been killed as floods hit Serbia and Bosnia, three months after heavy flooding killed almost 80 people in the region.

The latest floods, caused by heavy rains, have damaged roads, bridges and hundreds of homes in western Serbia and in central and northern Bosnia.

Floods in the same area in May affected nearly two million people and caused billions of euros of damage.

Many of the victims criticised the official response at the time.

Local media in Serbia say a man, aged 65, drowned after floodwaters swept through his home in Banja Koviljaca, in the west of the country.

Bosnia flooding2
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Hawaii in the path of two hurricanes, first hurricane in 22 years

Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Audrey Mcavoy
ABC News
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 04:12 UTC
Hawaii Hurricanes
Iselle was supposed to weaken as it slowly trudged west across the Pacific. It didn't - and now Hawaii is poised to take its first direct hurricane hit in 22 years.

State officials are assuring the islands are ready and people should prepare but not panic. Tourists wonder whether their flights and activities would be disrupted and tried to get in some last-minute beach time before the surf's up, but ugly. And residents are making bottled water tougher to find than a cheap fruity cocktail.

"Everybody says this is the last day of good weather, so we came down to the beach," said Shonna Snodgrass, a tourist in Waikiki visiting from Stafford, Virginia.

Hurricane Iselle was expected to arrive on the Big Island on Thursday evening, bringing heavy rains, winds gusting up to 85 mph and flooding in some areas. Weather officials changed their outlook on the system Wednesday after seeing it get a little stronger, giving it enough oomph to stay a hurricane as it reaches landfall.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Mass death of stingrays in New South Wales under investigation

Ainslie Drewitt-Smith
ABC News, Australia
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 03:03 UTC
Stingray
© Allan GratzerOne of dozens of dead stingrays found on the shore of Lake Conjola, north of Ulladulla.
The mass death of stingrays on the New South Wales south coast has prompted an investigation by fisheries officers.

About 30 dead stingrays washed up on the shore at Lake Conjola, north of Ulladulla.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries, which has taken samples, said the likely cause of death was extremely cold water, between 8 and 9 degrees Celsius.

In a statement, the department said the "most probable" cause of death was the water cooling rapidly over a short period of time.

It said there were no visible signs of any pollutant, and no other species were affected.

The president of the Conjola District Lake Care Association, Robin Kerves, said she was not convinced the water's temperature was to blame.
Read More...