Earth ChangesS


Attention

Unprecedented study shows alarming drop in shark populations


CBS Miami
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 20:19 UTC
candid cams reveal shark populations in decline
Reef tales: candid cams reveal shark populations in decline
For the first time in history, a group of scientists has spent four years gathering over 15,000 hours of video data to survey the health of the world's shark population, and the results are alarming. Thanks to overfishing and the brutal practice of finning, some regions of the world have no more sharks at all.

This unprecedented global study, led by FIU researchers, reveals sharks are functionally extinct from many reefs.

Functionally extinct meaning "too rare to fulfill their normal role in the ecosystem," according to the landmark study by Global FinPrint.

Researchers examined 371 reefs in 58 countries and found sharks were not observed on nearly 20 percent, indicating a widespread decline that has gone undocumented on this scale until now.

Essentially no sharks were detected on any of the reefs in the Dominican Republic, the French West Indies, Kenya, Vietnam, the Windward Dutch Antilles and Qatar. Among these, a total of only three sharks were observed during more than 800 survey hours, according to the study published today in Nature.

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Fire

Greek fire brigade fights at 72 fronts to bring blazes under control


Neos Kosmos
Fri, 24 Jul 2020 20:03 UTC
Fire burns near the village of Galataki as authorities evacuate the place near Corinth, Greece. July 22, 2020
© Petros Giannakouris/APFire burns near the village of Galataki as authorities evacuate the place near Corinth, Greece. July 22, 2020
Fires are raging in Greece with efforts continuing to put them out.

A blaze at the popular spa area of Loutraki, Corinthia prefecture, was placed under control after it broke out at a forested area.

Fire Brigade operations were successful and managed to save evacuated homes in the area caught in the line of fire.

The Drassa settlement in the Corinthia prefecture was evacuated on Thursday as the fire that started on Wednesday at Kehries is burning "out of control," Corinth Mayor Vassilis Nanopoulos told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), adding that a summer camp t Sofiko was also evacuated.

Mayor Nanopoulos requested that the government and the Peloponnese Regional authority declare the municipality in a state of emergency as 268 firefighters with 61 fire engines and 15 grounds teams battled the blaze and high winds created multiple pockets of fire.

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Tornado2

Tornado hits Patzún, Guatemala

Disaster Compilations
YouTube
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 19:45 UTC
tornado
(Translated from Spanish): A mini tornado swept through the roofs of at least 15 houses in the Patzún municipality, Chimaltenango Guatemala, located just minutes from the capital city. There was also damage to some neighboring crops to the affected houses.

The event was recorded at approximately five in the afternoon, witnesses did not hesitate to record the spectacular and dark moment, being a phenomenon rarely seen at the Alaska Summit in Sololá, about three hours from the capital.

Elements of the Fire Department gave attention to the families of a sector of zone 6 that were affected, who were waiting for government help.

Read more (article in Spanish).

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Cloud Precipitation

Vehicles stranded in high water as deadly flooding inundates Busan, South Korea


Yahoo! News
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 13:43 UTC
Firefighters help a driver on a flooded road in in this photo provided by the Incheon Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, as heavy rains pounded most of the country.
© YonhapFirefighters help a driver on a flooded road in Incheon, west of Seoul, on July 23, 2020, in this photo provided by the Incheon Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, as heavy rains pounded most of the country.
At least two people were killed when intense rainfall and high tide caused flooding in Busan, South Korea, on July 23, reports said.

Local news reports said at least four inches of rain fell in Gyeongsang Province and the Korea Meteorological Administration warned of one to two more inches of rainfall per hour overnight. Seoul, the capital, and other areas of South Korea also received heavy rainfall.

Video filmed by a local resident in the Gwangan-dong area of Busan shows high water levels on the street, stranding at least one vehicle.


Credit: @meeeen__ via Storyful
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Attention

Rare Blainville's beaked whale washes up on beach in New South Wales, Australia


9News
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 18:30 UTC
Blainville's beaked whale
Blainville's beaked whale
A precarious operation is underway to move the carcass of a rare whale that washed up on the NSW Central Coast.

The Blainville's beaked whale, believed to be more than four metres long, drew a crowd at The Entrance today.

It will eventually go under the microscope for research and conservation.

But the one tonne whale will need to be transported 100 kilometres by road to Taronga Zoo first for an autopsy.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife is providing advice and assistance to Central Coast Council in relation to the removal of the whale from North Entrance Beach.
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Cloud Precipitation

Continuing heavy rains triggering landslides and flash floods in Nepal - death toll rises to at least 132


Timesnownews.com
Fri, 24 Jul 2020 11:39 UTC
Landslides hit Khurkot-Ghurmi road
Landslides hit Khurkot-Ghurmi road
At least 132 people lost their lives as a result of heavy rains triggering landslides, and flash floods in Nepal.

"132 people dead, 128 injured, 53 missing and 998 families affected due to rainfall, landslides and floods in the country as of 23rd July," Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority

Within the last two weeks, the Myagdi district of western Nepal was the worst affected with 27 reported deaths.

Search and rescue operations are being conducted continuously with officials and police personnel who are looking through the debris to find missing people.

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Better Earth

Birds in Finland breeding earlier and having shorter breeding seasons

Bob Yirka
Phys.org
Tue, 21 Jul 2020 12:00 UTC
Common Crossbill
© Jon EvansCommon Crossbill
A team of researchers from Finland and the U.S. has found that boreal birds in Finland have been starting their breeding seasons earlier and have also been shortening their breeding seasons as temperatures in Finland increase due to global warming. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their analysis of data from multiple studies to learn more about how birds are adapting to climate change and what they learned from it.

As the planet continues to warm due to manmade greenhouse gas emissions, researchers around the world continue to study how plants and animals are adapting to the changes. In this new effort, the researchers wondered how boreal birds (those that live south of the Arctic Circle) are faring as temperatures in Finland have been rising.

Comment: That a shift is occurring on our planet is evident throughout nature, however while spring appears to be starting earlier in some areas, winter is too, and, overall, Earth is showing signs of serious cooling: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Cloud Precipitation

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: 1200 year cycle of floods, sacred shrines and locusts


Adapt 2030
Fri, 24 Jul 2020 01:26 UTC
locusts
© REUTERS / Baz Ratner
With the largest floods in memory in both Japan and China, a 1200 year old tree falls at a Shinto Shrine and a 1200 year old bridge in China is washed away. This portends a 1000+ year cycle is occurring as comet NeoWise sweeps through the sky. South African game parks now selling game animal meat to raise money and locusts swarms are following the massive floods in western China's Yunnan Province leaving stubs of this seasons crops.

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Info

First active methane seep discovered in Antarctica sea-bed

Michelle Klampe
Oregon State University
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 19:51 UTC
Starfish around Methane Seep
© Andrew Thurber, Oregon State University.Sea stars gather around a microbial mat that can indicate presence of a methane seep.
Corvallis, Ore. - The discovery of the first active methane seep in Antarctica is providing scientists new understanding of the methane cycle and the role methane found in this region may play in warming the planet.


Comment: Our planet is not warming, Antarctica included: Colder summers killing Antarctica's moss forests


A methane seep is a location where methane gas escapes from an underground reservoir and into the ocean. Methane seeps have been found throughout the world's oceans, but the one discovered in the Ross Sea was the first active seep found in Antarctica, said Andrew Thurber, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University.

"Methane is the second-most effective gas at warming our atmosphere and the Antarctic has vast reservoirs that are likely to open up as ice sheets retreat due to climate change," Thurber said. "This is a significant discovery that can help fill a large hole in our understanding of the methane cycle."

The researchers' findings were published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Co-authors are Sarah Seabrook and Rory Welsh, who were graduate students at OSU during the expeditions. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Comment: Antarctica's ocean may be warming and that is likely related to the numerous undersea volcanoes, whose activity may also be increasing: Volcanoes melting West Antarctic glaciers, 3 new studies confirm

See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Windsock

Triple tropical trouble: Douglas, Gonzalo and Tropical Depression 8 threaten US, Caribbean

Doyle Rice
USA Today
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 19:44 UTC
The forecast track of Hurricane Douglas shows the system moving over the Hawaiian Islands by the weekend.
© National Hurricane CenterThe forecast track of Hurricane Douglas shows the system moving over the Hawaiian Islands by the weekend.
The tropics are heating up as three separate systems are threatening havoc in the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Douglas in the Pacific Ocean threatens the Hawaiian Islands. Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Eight is spinning about 415 miles from Port O'Connor, Texas. And in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Gonzalo is expected to become a hurricane Friday as it moves west toward the Windward Islands of the Caribbean.

While 2020 has been crushing records for earliest named storms in the Atlantic, including Cristobal, Edouard, Fay and Gonzalo, hurricane experts noted that the storms so far have been weak and short-lived.

Here's a look at each storm:
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