Earth Changes

World's rarest, most ancient dog has been rediscovered in the wild

BEC CREW
Science Alert
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC

After decades of fearing that the New Guinea highland wild dog had gone extinct in its native habitat, researchers have finally confirmed the existence of a healthy, viable population, hidden in one of the most remote and inhospitable regions on Earth.

According to DNA analysis, these are the most ancient and primitive canids in existence, and a recent expedition to New Guinea's remote central mountain spine has resulted in more than 100 photographs of at least 15 wild individuals, including males, females, and pups, thriving in isolation and far from human contact.

"The discovery and confirmation of the highland wild dog for the first time in over half a century is not only exciting, but an incredible opportunity for science," says the group behind the discovery, the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation (NGHWDF). "The 2016 Expedition was able to locate, observe, gather documentation and biological samples, and confirm through DNA testing that at least some specimens still exist and thrive in the highlands of New Guinea."

Dramatic videos show wildfires blazing across the west of Ireland

Erica Doyle Higgins
The Irish Post
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 15:21 UTC

The fire rips through the rural Gaeltacht areas of Galway last weekend.

Dramatic videos have captured the scenes as wild fire ripped through gorse in rural West of Ireland areas over the weekend.

Fire and Rescue teams in Co. Galway were called to two areas of the Gaelteacht, Toureen yesterday and Baile na hAbhainn on Saturday, March 25 as they were engulfed by wildfire.

Although the Toureen and Baile na hAbhainn fires were captured on video, fire services also attended blazes in Loughrea, Clifton, Costello Connemara, Tuam, and Gort.

Thank you to Galway Fire and Rescue for their difficult work last night in tackling the gorse fires and preventing spread to homes. pic.twitter.com/H3jJIMRTNm
— Enda Cunningham (@endacunningham) March 26, 2017

Surfer bitten by shark off New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Brevard Times
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 14:55 UTC

A 58-year-old surfer was bitten in the foot by a shark Monday morning off of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, according to Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue.

The surfer was bitten just before 10 a.m. when he was 30-40 yards out in the ocean. The injury was considered minor and the surfer was not transported to the hospital.

In 2016, Volusia County (Daytona Beach area) had the largest number (15) of unprovoked shark bites among Florida counties, nearly doubling Volusia's recent five-year average of eight attacks per year.

University of Florida researchers say that the higher number of shark bites off the east coast of Central Florida is attributable to high aquatic recreational use by both Florida residents and tourists, including large numbers of surfers, and to the rich nature of its marine fauna.

Sun halo awes visitors to Anhui province in China

Wang Quan
CGTN Live
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 13:46 UTC

On March 26, a solar halo appeared in the sky above the historic city of Huangshan, in east China's Anhui Province.

According to local media, the halo appeared at around 11am and lasted for almost two hours.

Photographers were able to snap some stunning pictures, as the bright halo rings reflected rainbow colors.

China Meteorological Administration describes solar halos as optical phenomena that form when hexagonal ice crystals in cirrus clouds refract and reflect the sun light.

Solar halos often appear in spring and summer. This was the first solar halo to be observed in Huangshan's Shexian county since 2012.

Comment: Rare double sun halos appeared the same day in Yongzhou City, central China.

Rivers of lava flow onto slopes of Mount Etna after eruption

RT
Tue, 28 Mar 2017 14:41 UTC

Scorching lava can still be seen flowing onto the slopes of Mount Etna, more than one week after the Italian volcano dramatically erupted. Stunning Ruptly footage shows huge amounts of magma oozing from the 3,329 meter-high mountain.

The fast-flowing lava was filmed on Tuesday, seemingly proving that Europe's most active volcano has little desire to settle down after erupting twice in less than one month.

Farmland bird population in Netherlands decreased by 70 percent in 50 years

Janene Pieters
NL Times
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 14:01 UTC

The number of farmland birds in the Netherlands decreased by over 2.5 million since 1960, which means about 70 percent of the total population disappeared. Some species are almost impossible to find in the Netherlands any longer, Statistics Netherlands revealed on Monday.

An estimated 750 thousand of the 1.1 million skylark breeding pairs disappeared. The partridge population dropped by 93 percent, the summer dove population by 92 percent, the tree sparrow population by 93 percent and the black tailed godwit by 68 percent.

Statistics Netherlands attributes the decrease partly to agricultural land in the Netherlands being replaced with housing or roads. An increase in fertilization and mowing of the land also reduces the amount and diversity of insects these birds eat. Bird nests are also often damaged or destroyed by intense fertilization or mowing.

Comment: For more about the widespread decline of farmland birds across Europe, see: The Vanishing: Europe's farmland birds down 55% in the last 3 decades

Dead whale removed from beach in Cape Town, South Africa

News 24
Tue, 28 Mar 2017 13:35 UTC

The whale carcass being dragged onto the beach for removal.

A beached whale carcass has been removed from a beach between Strandfontein and Muizenberg.

On Wednesday afternoon last week the NSRI Strandfontein duty crew and two NSRI Strandfontein rescue swimmers were dispatched to help at Sonwabi beach where officials of the City of Cape Town were dealing with the whale carcass in the breaker surf line.

There were no incidents and the City workers removed the whale from the beach.

Lightning bolt kills couple in Mindanao, Philippines

The Filipino Times
Tue, 28 Mar 2017 13:24 UTC

As heavy rains and strong winds battered Cotabato City and nearby towns on Sunday, a couple was reportedly killed by lightning, while more than dozen houses in open fields were destroyed

Spouses Kabasalan and Maisa Minulan were killed when lightning struck through their shanty in Barangay Nalinan in Sultan Kudarat town, reported the Philippine Star.

"They were killed instantly according to investigators in the Sultan Kudarat municipal police station," Senior Superintendent Agustin Tello, director of the Maguindanao provincial police was quoted to have said in the report.

Powerful winds, large hail strike U.S. Southern Plains

abc13.com
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 12:30 UTC

Forecasters say strong storms that swept through parts of Texas and Oklahoma are just the beginning of what's expected to be a busy week of severe weather.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says the storm system that struck the Southern Plains on Sunday will take aim Monday at Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley states.

Forecasters say damaging winds and large hail are the biggest threats Monday, particularly in western Kentucky, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee, including the Memphis area.

Bad weather is again in the forecast Tuesday and Wednesday in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Cyclone Debbie: 'Monster' storm makes landfall in Australia

RT
Tue, 28 Mar 2017 04:33 UTC

Thousands of people have been evacuated as a monster category four cyclone smashed into the coast of Australia, with winds over 260 kilometers per hour (160 mph) ripping off roofs and uprooting trees in Queensland.

The 50-kilometer-wide eye of Cyclone Debbie struck along the north Queensland coastline; starting with Whitsunday Islands and the nearby mainland. The hurricane strong winds are currently packing a force of roughly 185 kilometers per hour, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said, warning that gusts could reach 270kph near the center.

The category four storm has already left more than 30,000 people without power in Airlie Beach, Proserpine, Bowen, Mackay and Cannonvale, Ergon Energy reports.

"We're getting some reports already of roofs starting to lift, including at some of our own facilities in the Whitsundays," the state's deputy police commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Furthermore, some 25,000 people have already evacuated from Queensland due to the severe weather conditions, where a tidal surge of up to 2 meters is expected.

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Winternights3

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slbeaudry

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sbc

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sbc

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slbeaudry

Earth Changes

World's rarest, most ancient dog has been rediscovered in the wild

Dramatic videos show wildfires blazing across the west of Ireland

Surfer bitten by shark off New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Sun halo awes visitors to Anhui province in China

Rivers of lava flow onto slopes of Mount Etna after eruption

Farmland bird population in Netherlands decreased by 70 percent in 50 years

Dead whale removed from beach in Cape Town, South Africa

Lightning bolt kills couple in Mindanao, Philippines

Powerful winds, large hail strike U.S. Southern Plains

Cyclone Debbie: 'Monster' storm makes landfall in Australia

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