Earth Changes
© Glenn Bartley
Common Murre
Common Murre
There was a near-total reproduction failure last year at all of the monitored breeding sites in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, federal biologists report.
At about 20 of the rocky outcroppings where common murres nest, lay eggs and hatch chicks, almost no fledglings were found, said Heather Renner, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Murres are black-and-white seabirds related to puffins and auks, are better at diving than flying, and look a bit like penguins. They are plentiful in Alaska's waters, normally numbering about 2.8 million, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
© Wikipedia
Don't look now, but maybe a scientific consensus exists concerning global warming after all. Only 36 percent of geoscientists and engineers believe that humans are creating a global warming crisis, according to a survey reported in the peer-reviewed Organization Studies. By contrast, a strong majority of the 1,077 respondents believe that nature is the primary cause of recent global warming and/or that future global warming will not be a very serious problem.
The survey results show geoscientists (also known as earth scientists) and engineers hold similar views as meteorologists. Two recent surveys of meteorologists (summarized here and here) revealed similar skepticism of alarmist global warming claims.
According to the newly published survey of geoscientists and engineers, merely 36 percent of respondents fit the "Comply with Kyoto" model. The scientists in this group "express the strong belief that climate change is happening, that it is not a normal cycle of nature, and humans are the main or central cause."
The flooding was caused by a storm that parked over the region last weekend and dumped almost 12 inches (30 cm)of rain, the National Weather Service said.
A faster-moving storm was expected to drop up to 5 inches (13 cm) more rain on Wednesday on already saturated parts of central and southern Missouri, southern Illinois, northern Arkansas, central Indiana and Oklahoma.
"Today adds insult to injury," said NWS meteorologist Bob Oravec. "When you see rivers flooding and it's still pouring, it can zap the spirit. This is additional bad news."
Some of the higher 24-hour rainfall totals reported by the National Weather Service included 10.59 inches at Rogers, 10.12 at Elm Springs, 9.1 inches at Farmington, and 8.5 inches at Savoy, 7.85 inches at Guy and 7.82 inches at Georgetown.
"There is major flooding along Current and Little Black rivers in western Clay County and thousands of acres of rice and corn will be impacted," said Stewart Runsick, Extension staff chair for Clay County at Corning, Ark. "I am sure replanting will be necessary in many fields. We had the best stand of corn that I had seen in many years."
In several counties, the rain and flooding eroded or destroyed levees, washing out rice fields.
Frost damage
Sources
A new WCS study reveals evidence that some corals are adapting to warming ocean waters - potentially good news in the face of recent reports of global coral die offs due to extreme warm temperatures in 2016. The study appears in the latest issue of Marine Ecology Progress Series.
The study looked at responses to extreme temperature exposures in the same reefs over time, and found less coral bleaching in 11 of the 21 coral species studied. WCS Senior Conservation Zoologist Tim McClanahan, who has been studying coral responses to climate change since the extreme temperatures of the1998 El Nino, authored the study.
The study took place in two marine national parks of Kenya. Looking at two similarly severe warming events in 1998 and 2016, McClanahan found that the number of pale and bleached coral colonies declined from 73 to 27 percent, and 96 to 60 percent in the two parks with different background temperatures. Most of this change was due to about half of the most common species that did not bleach strongly in 2016. One rare species was, however, more sensitive than in 1998.
© Justin Gilpin
Wheat field in western Kansas almost completely covered by snow during the morning of April 29, 2017.
Wheat field in western Kansas almost completely covered by snow during the morning of April 29, 2017.
The emotions you are feeling is a combination of a step up in the Schumann Resonance of our Earth and the electrical intensification from our Sun during the last solar storm with blue and white auroras.
Other countries lost wheat production as well, but some gained, although the US and Russia are the two main global producers. Losses from this point will mount along with global food price increases.
The Mini Ice Age has begun today!
Sources
28 April - According to the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorologia, temperatures in the higher elevations of the state of Santa Catarina fell to -1.1°C (30°F) on Thursday morning.
Temperatures all across southern Brazil are expected to set record lows below 10°C (50°F) for the next several nights in all of three state capitals including Curitiba in Parana, Florianopolis in Santa Catarina, and Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul. The low temperatures Friday night in the state of Parana could drop to -5°C (23°F) in higher elevations with the possibility of frosts across the state until Sunday night.
© Ruby Taylor Peyton
Ruby Taylor Peyton spent about half an hour watching this walrus Monday evening in White Cape Harbour.
Ruby Taylor Peyton spent about half an hour watching this walrus Monday evening in White Cape Harbour.
Ruby Taylor Peyton heard the news and headed to the White Cape Harbour area around 6:30 p.m. Monday, where she snapped photos of the marine mammal bobbing in the water.
"Every now and then he'd poke up and just lie back down again," said Taylor Peyton, who had never seen a walrus in the area before.
"Pretty cool."
Comment: U.S. loses 30% of its wheat crop, first Mini Ice Age grain crop damage, global prices up