© Russ Adams
Earth Changes
Halos like this one around the sun or moon are caused by ice crystal high in Earth's sky. Notice the upside-down rainbow-like arc above. It's called a circumzenithal arc.
Russ Adams in Pike County, Illinois caught this beautiful scene on December 22, 2016. The upside-down rainbow-like arc above is called a circumzenithal arc. The circle around the setting sun is called a 22-degree halo, and this halo has two sun dogs, or bright spots, visible on it.
The male cheetah cub spots the GoPro camera
Scientists estimate that just 7,100 of the fleet-footed cats remain in the wild, occupying just nine per cent of the territory they once lived in.
Asiatic populations have been hit the hardest with fewer than 50 individuals surviving in Iran, according to a new investigation led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
In Zimbabwe, cheetah numbers have plummeted by 85 per cent in little more than a decade.
© NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Bogoslof volcano
Bogoslof volcano
"An ash-producing eruption started at 14:05 AKST (23:05 UTC) today and is continuing as recorded by seismic data on nearby islands, by lightning, and as seen in recent satellite images," the report read.
It also said that one ash cloud reached around 30,000 feet.
The observatory raised the aviation alert level from a watch to a warning, according to the report.
© John Bisset/FAIRFAX NZ
Locals gather around the whale which beached itself at Caroline Bay.
Locals gather around the whale which beached itself at Caroline Bay.
It follows an incident involving a Gray's beaked whale which beached itself on Boxing Day at about 7.30pm. Despite multiple attempts by locals, the whale died later that night.
Department of Conservation (DOC) crews spent Tuesday morning co-ordinating its removal from the popular summer beach.
For trained marine medic Donna McPherson, of Timaru, it was her first real-life whale stranding since she received training in April.
"It certainly will be forever in my memory."
She first received a call-out at about 8.30pm on Monday.
© John Bisset/FAIRFAX NZ
The gray's beaked whale beached itself in Caroline Bay on late Monday night and had to be removed on Tuesday.
The gray's beaked whale beached itself in Caroline Bay on late Monday night and had to be removed on Tuesday.
Preliminary results point to algae-created toxins as the likely cause of the fish kill, which was discovered last week after dead fish were first seen in rivers that include the Gunpowder and Bird, said MDE spokesperson Jay Apperson Monday evening.
The kill has affected at least nine species: yellow perch, largemouth bass, bluegill sunfish, pumpkinseed sunfish, carp, black crappie, gizzard shad, spottail shiner and channel catfish.
© Johan Nilsson/TT
Storm Urd hit Malmö on Monday afternoon.
Storm Urd hit Malmö on Monday afternoon.
The Öresund Bridge between Malmö in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark reopened to traffic at 2.40am on Tuesday after closing at around 10pm the previous evening. Drivers were however warned to drive carefully and stay below 50 kilometres an hour on the 7.8-kilometre road bridge.
The water level in the strait separating the two countries rose to around 120-150 centimetres above average overnight, but national weather agency SMHI reported it was slowly subsiding in the morning.
SMHI downgraded its class-two weather warnings for southern Sweden to class-one in the far south and said gale-force winds were no longer expected for the rest of the Götaland region.
"The risk of strong gusts was over by around 4am or 5am," SMHI meteorologist Johan Lundgren told news agency TT.
© Lucas Jackson / Reuters
In North Dakota, weather conditions and near-zero visibility compelled a no-travel warning, as the National Weather Service said a blizzard warning would remain in effect for much of the state through Monday afternoon.
© Getty
Charging elephant
Charging elephant
The deceased has been identified as Raghunath Khanga, 60, of Bhardaha-9 of the district, according to Area Police Office (APO) of Bhardaha.
When Khanga and his family were fast asleep in the middle of the night, two wild suddenly elephants attacked his house. Everyone except Khanga managed to escape. He was chased down and trampled to death, informed the APO. According to locals, the elephants also destroyed sheds, and crops and vegetables cultivated in the farms of some locals.
Prior to this incident, Allahdin Khan, 55, of Bairawa-8 had also lost his life after being attacked by an wild elephant on November 3.
Overexcited grown man attacked by cat
Andrew Woodward, of Georgia, was enthusiastically ripping the wrapping paper off his new PlayStation 4 on Sunday when his cat pounced on him and viciously clawed at his head and neck.
Video of the incident was posted to Facebook by Woodward's friend Jessica Freeman and had been shared nearly 200,000 times by Monday morning.
"This has resulted in a trip to the doctor and stitches. We love him and genuinely hope he feels better. It's just nice to be able to laugh with your best friends," Freeman said of Woodward's injuries.
Water begins to trickle down the side of the massive rock
The freak desert storm damaged at least 40 per cent of homes in Kintore, about 520 kilometres west of the red centre, forcing 100 of its 400 residents to flee.
Uluru National Park was shut down at 9am on Monday but visitors revelled in the rare sight of water cascading down the sides of the massive rock the day before.
Dozens of waterfalls completely changed its complexion and put on a show for tourists who stayed out in the rain to watch the spectacle.
Photos and video from the base of Uluru showed huge pools forming below the waterfalls that lapped around raised walkways.
A thick low-lying white cloud obscured the top of the rock.
Photos and video from the base of Uluru showed huge pools forming below the waterfalls that lapped around raised walkways
Comment: See also: Megafauna extinction: Many of the world's largest beasts could be extinct by the end of the century
31 large carnivores declining across the world
Conservation body warns giraffes undergoing a 'silent extinction'
African elephant populations facing extinction due to hunting and poaching for ivory