Earth Changes

Nearly a tenth of all Florida manatees have already died this year

Richard Luscombe
The Guardian
Mon, 31 May 2021 12:03 UTC

A manatee swims in a recovery pool in Tampa, Florida.

Environmental groups in Florida are warning that unusually high numbers of manatee deaths in the first five months of the year, blamed in part on resurgent algal blooms contaminating and destroying food sources, could threaten the long-term future of the species.

The 749 fatalities recorded by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to 21 May surpassed 637 from the whole of 2020, the agency said. The total is on course to exceed the high of 804, set in 2018.

The dying off of substantial areas of seagrass, the favoured food source for the slow-moving aquatic mammals, has caused starvation. The situation has been exacerbated by the recurrence of inland blue-green algal blooms and phytoplankton blooms in Florida waterways.

Offshore, the recent leak and discharge of toxic wastewater into Tampa Bay from the abandoned Piney Point fertilizer plant and the return of the red tide algal menace has poisoned waters. FWC says 12 manatee deaths so far this year were from confirmed or suspected red tide blooms, but the real figure could be far higher because not every dead manatee is necropsied.

KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa wakes up to winter wonderland

Lyse Comins
The South African
Wed, 02 Jun 2021 11:37 UTC

Parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Freestate woke up to a winter wonderland on Wednesday morning after snow dusted the peaks of the Drakensberg mountains and some foothills as well as Harrismith and the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

Snow seekers are already planning their weekend and berg resorts are expecting demand for accommodation bookings to rise as families seek to take their children to view the snow capped mountains.

Comment: Rare 'Level 5 snow warning' in place for parts of South Africa

Flash floods hit Samsun, Turkey

EarthPedia News
YouTube
Thu, 03 Jun 2021 10:41 UTC

Flash floods in Samsun, Turkey.

Angry elephant rams truck off the road in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Tom Head
The South African
Thu, 03 Jun 2021 10:20 UTC

An elephant wants some living room.

The driver of a bakkie in the Klaserie area of Kruger National Park was stunned into silence earlier this week, after clashing with a furious elephant on a dirt road. Needless to say, the vehicle came off MUCH worse.

During the drive, the bakkie appeared to inadvertently get too close to one of the elephant calves, putting the family on high alert. The clip shows the adult ellie approaching the car and apparently backing away - but this was only to get a good charge lined up. The grey marvel then bounds down the road, ready to deliver a clear message to the motorist.

Woman mauled by bear in Asturias, Spain

Natalia Penza
The Sun (UK)
Tue, 01 Jun 2021 10:02 UTC

© AFP - Getty
Police have launched a search for the animal (which is strongly believed to bear a striking resemblance to the one shown above).

A WOMAN was attacked by a bear during an evening walk with her friends, suffering facial injuries and a broken pelvis.

The 75-year-old was rushed to hospital after the beast clawed her face and tried to drag her away in the Asturias region in northern Spain.

The pensioner, identified only as Carmen, was enjoying an evening stroll with some pals after dinner when the animal appeared suddenly at around 9pm on Sunday.

The bear struck her in the face with one of its front claws after rearing up on its back legs.

According to local reports, the animal tried to drag the woman away before her friends, who were a few feet a head of her, got the bear to desist by shouting at it.

US sees most shark attacks in the world in 2020 - beating Australia and South Africa

Cybele Mayes-Osterman
The Sun (UK)
Mon, 31 May 2021 09:52 UTC

The US had the most shark attacks last year

A RECENT study found that the US experienced the most shark attacks in the world last year, surprisingly beating out Australia and South Africa.

The study by Florida Panhandle found that the US had 46 attacks in 2020, far and away the greatest of any country, with Australia coming in second with 30 attacks and the Bahamas third with just four attacks.

However, the fatality rate of the attacks was just 6.5 percent in the US, while a whopping 30 percent of Australian attacks were fatal.

Additional insights provided by the study include that 95 percent of shark attacks are unprovoked, and are most likely in the afternoon and on a Sunday.

Surprisingly, although the Great White Shark - the iconic species of the Jaws movie series - had the most attacks, its fatality rate was lower than that of the Tiger Shark.

The Great White had 19 attacks with a 31.6 percent fatality rate, while the Tiger's had seven with a 57.1 percent fatality rate.

Waterspouts filmed off the coast of Galveston, Texas

Saltwater-Recon.com
YouTube
Tue, 01 Jun 2021 09:39 UTC

Waterspouts formed rapidly along an outflow just offshore of Galveston Island on June 1st, 2021. The complex of storms associated with the outflow remained offshore and prompted numerous special marine warnings for the associated waterspout activity.

One dead, 16 injured as tornado hits China's northeast Heilongjiang province

SCMP Clips
Wed, 02 Jun 2021 06:51 UTC

Screenshot of Weibo video

A tornado slammed China's northeast Heilongjiang province on June 1, 2021, killing one and injuring 16 people. According to Chinese state media, the tornado, which brought along hail, stormed through a suburb of the provincial capital Harbin, damaging 168 homes and wreaking havoc on farmlands. The economic loss was estimated at 5.12 million yuan (US$800,000).

Delhi, India suffers coldest day in June ever

Sadia Akhtar
Hindustan Times
Wed, 02 Jun 2021 06:19 UTC

A dust storm and late-night rain brought Delhi's minimum temperature on Tuesday down to 17.9 degrees Celsius, the lowest ever recorded in June, ensuring that the city continued the trend of breaking some historical weather record every month since August 2020.

According to IMD data, the previous lowest minimum temperature recorded in Delhi in June was 18 degrees Celsius on June 17, 2006.

HT reported last week that the Capital was on a weather barrier-breaking streak for at least the last nine months.

In August 2020, the city recorded 236.5mm rainfall, the highest for the month since 2013. In September, it recorded the warmest month in almost two decades. The Capital's average maximum temperature that month was 36.2 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record of 36.1 degrees Celsius in 2015. The last time Delhi recorded higher average maximum temperature in September was in 2001, when the mercury soared to 36.3 degrees Celsius.

In October, the city broke a 58-year-old record by clocking a mean minimum temperature of just 17.2 degrees Celsius. In November, it broke an even older record, with the month's mean minimum temperature dropping to 10.2 degrees Celsius, a level last seen in 1949.

"Dramatic" increase of landslips in UK's Brecon Beacons

Steffan Messenger
BBC
Wed, 02 Jun 2021 22:07 UTC

While not unusual, landslips in the Beacons have become increasingly regular

Reservoirs in the Brecon Beacons are increasingly being polluted by landslides that have been described as a "dramatic" warning of climate change.

Extreme rainfall in recent years has led to an increase in the slips, the National Trust and Welsh Water said.

They result in the water being supplied to 1.5 million homes and businesses turning "rosé" pink and requiring additional treatment.

Thousands of trees are being planted to stabilise land near the reservoirs.

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Earth Changes

Nearly a tenth of all Florida manatees have already died this year

KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa wakes up to winter wonderland

Flash floods hit Samsun, Turkey

Angry elephant rams truck off the road in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Woman mauled by bear in Asturias, Spain

US sees most shark attacks in the world in 2020 - beating Australia and South Africa

Waterspouts filmed off the coast of Galveston, Texas

One dead, 16 injured as tornado hits China's northeast Heilongjiang province

Delhi, India suffers coldest day in June ever

"Dramatic" increase of landslips in UK's Brecon Beacons

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