Earth ChangesS


Fire

Floods, fire and drought: Australia bearing the brunt of rise in extreme weather

Adam Morton
Guardian
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 21:09 UTC
australia flood
© Dan Peled/EPAResidents wade through floodwaters in the suburb of Hermit Park in Townsville this week.
Amid record temperatures, severe flooding and devastation of wilderness, the political message from the government is business as usual

The people of Townsville know about heavy rain, but this was new. Over the past fortnight, the northern Queensland city's 180,000 residents have been hit by a monsoon strengthened by a low-pressure front that dragged moist air south from the equator to Australia's top end.

It dumped an unprecedented 1.4 metres of rain in less than two weeks - roughly double what falls on London in a year.

The ensuing chaos has wrecked homes and caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to property. Two men have drowned and videos posted to social media have shown crocodiles climbing trees and taking to elevated highways in search of shelter.

But amid the deluge, not everyone heeded the evacuation advice.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?

Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Massive winter storms wreak havoc across the US


CBS News
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:31 UTC
US winter storms
© Joshua Clark, USA TODAY NetworkPatrick Cain, of Manitowoc, Wisc. shovels out his entryway as snow blankets the area Feb. 12, 2019.

More than 100 million Americans are in the path of powerful winter storms Tuesday morning. The massive winter storms are bringing snow, ice and rain from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest and into the Northeast. The snow-covered roads are causing problems for drivers from Tacoma, Washington, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Chicago. The storm is responsible for at least one death.

More than 1,400 flights have already been cancelled Tuesday and travel conditions are causing headaches for drivers in 35 states. Up to two feet of snow is expected in some areas and the storm is already responsible for at least one death, reports CBS News' Don Dahler.

Heavy snow and ice created havoc on the roads Monday, leaving overturned cars littered on interstates across the Midwest. A car slammed into a parked police vehicle on the side of a highway in Waterloo, Iowa, and a private jet with three people on board slid off a runway in Richmond, Indiana after attempting to land.

In Philadelphia, a bus crashed into the side of a building overnight after hitting a patch of ice. One person on board was injured. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has declared a state of emergency. Nearly 1,400 salt and plow trucks are on the roads across New Jersey and New York.


Comment: Historic winter storm hits Hawaii with record-high waves, flooding, extreme winds and rare snow

Read More...
Attention

Mountains rumbling: Five most active volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago

Kharishar Kahfi
The Jakarta Post
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 19:10 UTC
Lava streams down from Anak Krakatau
© AFP/Ferdi AwedLava streams down from Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa) volcano during an eruption as seen from Rakata island in South Lampung on July 19, 2018.
The eruption of little-known volcano Mount Karangetang in Siau Island, North Sulawesi, has added to the list of active volcanoes that have recently awakened in the archipelago, home to more than 230 million people.

Indonesia has more than 120 volcanoes, 20 of which have been considered to be the most active, according to the latest data from the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG).

The most active volcanoes are placed into three alert levels by local authorities: level II of Waspada (Caution), level III of Siaga (Alert) and level IV of Awas (Danger) - the highest on the alert level.

Here are five of the most active volcanoes that have rumbled recently:

Mount Karangetang

Mount Karangetang in Siau Island, North Sulawesi, located roughly 146 kilometers from the provincial capital of Manado, has been erupting since November last year. Its activity has only increased since then, prompting the PVMBG to declare an Alert status in December.

As of Sunday, local observation posts said that volcanic activity had been fluctuating, with a number of volcanic earthquakes occurring in the last several days. Officials also observed a flow of lava from one of the craters.
Read More...
Snowflake

Lake Tahoe weather: Season snow totals near 400 inches


Northern Nevada Business View
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 15:34 UTC
A man removes snow from his car after a winter storm this February.
© Bill RozakA man removes snow from his car after a winter storm this February.
A winter storm dumped over 3 feet of snow at some Lake Tahoe ski resorts in a 24-hour span this weekend, according to reports published Sunday morning, Feb. 10, from regional ski resorts.

The impressive numbers follow a light dusting Friday night and early Saturday morning, putting season snow totals at impressive levels heading into President's Day this weekend.

According to Squaw Valley's snowfall tracker, the resort has recorded 393 inches of snow at upper mountain (8,000 feet), with 242 inches reported at its 6,200-feet base, as of Sunday morning.

Read More...
Attention

Gray whale found dead in Altata, Mexico


The Mazatlan Messenger
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 14:17 UTC
gray whale
Gray whale
A few days ago reports of a gray whale swimming at Altata Bay (North of Sinaloa) were reported. Unfortunately, on Sunday the whale was found dead.

The whale displayed injuries on it's tail and dorsal fin, and according to marine life experts the injuries were consistent with a shark attack.

Every winter, hundreds of Pacific gray whales return to their traditional breeding and birthing grounds around Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Their migration from Alaska's Bering Sea to the warm waters of Baja's Pacific lagoons is the longest mammal migration on Earth.

Of the original three gray whale populations, one in the North Atlantic is extinct, one is critically endangered in the Western North Pacific (with as few as 150 individuals remaining), and one has recovered from very low levels in the Eastern North Pacific and was removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1994.
Read More...
Attention

Beached whale shark dies on coast of West Java, Indonesia


The Jakarta Post
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:04 UTC
The Whale Shark stranded at the Wharf Port of Nusantara Palabuhanratu Nusantara
© Aditya ARThe Whale Shark stranded at the Wharf Port of Nusantara Palabuhanratu Nusantara
A whale shark was found dead on Tuesday by locals and fishermen near the dock of a fishing port in Palabuhanratu, Sukabumi regency, West Java.

"I used to run into these [sharks] in the sea, and they had never disrupted our work. However, this time, we found one of them stranded on the dock," an unnamed fisherman, who claimed to have discovered the beached shark first, said on Tuesday as quoted by Antara.

The stranded shark, known for its distinct white spots and stripes, weighed around 300 kilograms and was around 2 meters-long.
Read More...
Binoculars

Rare black-browed albatross from the southern hemisphere turns up in Cornwall, UK

John Bett and Jeff Reines
Cornwall Live
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:16 UTC
The black browed albatross rarely ventures from the Southern Hemisphere but one has been spotted in Cornwall
The black browed albatross rarely ventures from the Southern Hemisphere but one has been spotted in Cornwall
Twitchers are flocking to Cornwall desperate to catch a glimpse of a bird rarely seen outside the southern hemisphere. Toby Phelps, 20, spotted a black-browed albatross and managed to get a picture of it while on a sea watching expedition.

He was stationed at the Lizard Point and, although he only saw it flying for a few minutes, experts were able to confirm the sighting.

They have now described it as a "red letter day" and said it was even more intriguing as it is believed it may be the same bird which visited Britain last year.

Toby, from Falmouth, who is studying zoology at university, said: "I was sat right on the edge of Lizard Point, by the cafe. We went down looking for birds, not specifically the albatross, we were sea watching and it just so happened to fly past.

Comment: There have been two other extremely rare records of this species in recent years (2015 and 2016) off the UK coast, see also: Another albatross species turns up in the wrong hemisphere, this time on Suffolk coast, UK

Lost black-browed albatross from the southern hemisphere seen along the coast of Yorkshire, UK

Read More...
Arrow Down

6 killed, 1 injured in landslide in Myanmar's northernmost state

Xiaoxia
Xinhua
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 12:35 UTC
Six Jade Scavengers Killed in Myanmar Cliff Collapse in Kachin State 2019-02-11
© Zaw Moe HtetPeople watch rescuers remove the bodies of six jade scavengers who died when a cliff collapsed at a jade mine near Spot village of Sate Mu village tract in Hpakant township, northern Myanmar's Kachin state, Feb. 10, 2019.
Six people were killed with one injured in a landslide in Myanmar's northern mining region, said the Home Affairs Ministry on Tuesday.

The landslide occurred at a jade mining site near a village in Hpakant in Kachin state on Sunday.

The 30.5-meter high cliff wall collapsed, killing six jade scavengers and injuring a man, who was in a six-wheeled truck buried in the landslide at 01:15 p.m. local time, the release said.

The bodies of the jade scavengers were recovered in the evening on that day and the injured was brought to the Hpakant General Hospital.
Read More...
Windsock

Historic winter storm hits Hawaii with record-high waves, flooding, extreme winds and rare snow


The Province
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 20:40 UTC
Hawaii winter storm
© NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP/VIIRSKona low affecting Hawaii on February 10, 2019.

An extremely powerful winter storm is pulling away from Hawaii after unleashing damaging winds, massive waves, coastal flooding, and snow in unusual places.

The storm, which the National Weather Service office in Honolulu described as "historic," first began pounding the islands Friday. Hawaii News Now reported a 66-year old California man died in the rough surf off northwest Maui on Friday.

"(Forecasters) are calling this an unprecedented event and we concur that we rarely if ever have seen the combination of record high on-shore waves, coupled with gale force winds," said Sam Lemmo, administrator of Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

The storm's most extreme blow was generated on the Big Island's towering peak of Mauna Kea where a 191-mph wind gust blasted the mountain summit at 4:40 p.m. local time Sunday.

"That's the strongest wind gust I've ever seen up there," said Jon Jelsema, senior forecaster at the Weather Service office in Honolulu. "We tend to get a gust maybe to 150 mph once a winter or so, but never 191 mph."

Read More...
Bug

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten global collapse of nature'

Damian Carrington
Guardian
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:00 UTC
insect
© Entomologisher Verein KrefeldThe rate of insect extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles.
The world's insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems", according to the first global scientific review.

More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.

The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger animals that are easier to study. But insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times. They are "essential" for the proper functioning of all ecosystems, the researchers say, as food for other creatures, pollinators and recyclers of nutrients.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?

Read More...