Earth ChangesS


Attention

After months of quiet, Mayon volcano in the Philippines erupts again

The mayon volcano is again spewing ashes following a phreatic explosion on Sunday.
The mayon volcano is again spewing ashes following a phreatic explosion on Sunday. File photo
Following months of quiet, Mount Mayon erupted again on Sunday afternoon, July 1, sending white to light gray ash clouds 500 meters up the sky.

The eruption took place around 12:30 pm on Sunday. This was months after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) lowered the volcano's alert level status from 3 to 2 in March.

Ed Laguerta, resident volcanologist of Phivolcs in Bicol, explained that Sunday's eruption was phreatic in nature.

A phreatic explosion is a steam-driven episode that occurs when water beneath the ground or on the surface is heated by magma, lava, hot rocks, or new volcanic deposits.

Cloud Precipitation

Large hailstones smash crops in south central Nebraska

Hail damage
© Andrew Philips
Some producers in south central Nebraska received an unwelcome hail storm on Saturday.

According to Andrew Philips, who farms in the Loomis area, the storm traveled two miles east of Loomis at a southwest angle toward Arapahoe.

Philips said the hail, which lasted 30 to 40 minutes, ranged in size from peas to golf balls.

"A lot of it (corn) is completely snapped off," said Philips. "Corn was close to tassel. Beans there is nothing but little stems left."

Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 5 and injures 12 in Maharashtra, India

lightning
At least five people have been killed and 12 others injured by lightning strikes in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, officials said Monday.

The incident took place in the state's Aurangabad district.

"Some 20 people had gathered at a crematorium site for the funeral of a person in Aurangabad Sunday when they were hit by lightning," a disaster management official said.

While five people were killed on the spot, those injured have been admitted to a local hospital, he added.

Lightning is common in the monsoon months of June and July in India.

Comment: Elsewhere in Asia over the last few days lightning strikes have killed a woman in South Korea and a hiker in Hong Kong while 3 family members died after being hit by by a bolt in Bangladesh.


Sun

UK heatwave causes farmers earliest harvest for 40 years - Yield is significantly reduced

They began harvesting their 750 acres of arable land on June 28, two weeks earlier than normal
They began harvesting their 750 acres of arable land on June 28, two weeks earlier than normal
The 86F heatwave which has swept Britain in the last week has caused an almost unheard of June harvest at a British farm.

Bisterne Estate in Ringwood, Hampshire, produces seed barley, milling wheat and biscuit rye, and began harvesting their 750 acres of arable land on June 28, two weeks earlier than normal.

Farm manager Martin Button says this is the earliest harvest there since 1976.

However, they are expecting a significantly reduced yield as the barley grain is much smaller than in a typical year, which was been attributed to the dry summer.

Comment: In recent years farmers all over the world have been fighting a losing battle against an increasingly erratic climate. With extreme cold, epic flooding, scorching heatwaves and deadly hailstorms, farmers are losing crop to disease and damage, and consumers are seeing prices skyrocket:


Cloud Precipitation

Golfball-sized hail batters cars, forcing them off roads in southern Russia

Hailstones as big as golf balls rain down in Russia’s South  July 2018
Mother Nature has unleashed her fury in the South of Russia, pelting rural areas with hailstones the size of golf balls and forcing motorists to pull over on the side of the road.

Footage posted online by RT's Ruptly agency shows massive chunks of hail that rained down on a small village in Krasnodar region, located roughly on the same latitude as Bologna, Italy. Some hailstones appeared to be as big as golf balls.

Motorists could be seen pulled over on the side of the road, and one video posted on Instagram showed a windshield that had been shattered by the force of the hail.

Comment: Note that the most recent hail destructive hail events were in the last two years. And this is a pattern we see all over the planet. Epic hail events are on the increase and it points to great changes in our atmosphere.

More footage from the hailstorm in Russia:





A similar hailstorm batters France within about 24 hours:


Ominious storm clouds in Ukraine:


And in the Florida, US:


And to note global temperatures are becoming cooling, even with these outbreaks of heatwaves all over the northern hemisphere. That may partly explain this epic hail and flooding we're seeing worldwide:




Cloud Precipitation

"Adverse cyclonic conditions" bring flooding to the streets of Cape Town, South Africa

SUNDAY 1 JULY 2018: Wind and rain batters Mouille Point, Cape Town
© Linda VenterSUNDAY 1 JULY 2018: Wind and rain batters Mouille Point, Cape Town
Ooft, Sunday morning was above and beyond hectic. The Cape Town weather has been unforgiving, as the heavens opened up and delivered a deluge to the city.

Around 9:00, severe downpours hit the CBD and its surrounding areas hard. The South African Weather Service (Saws) have already issued several weather warnings for Sunday, as the region attempts to deal with "adverse cyclonic conditions".


Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods kill 3 in Jammu, India

Vehicles wade through a flooded road after heavy rainfall in Srinagar on June 30.
© Waseem AndrabiVehicles wade through a flooded road after heavy rainfall in Srinagar on June 30
Three persons, including a woman, were killed and nearly a dozen houses were damaged in rain-related incidents in different districts of the Jammu region, officials said on Saturday.

Harbans Lal (45) was washed away by flash floods in a stream near his house at Natulphal village of Khour in the Akhnoor sector on Saturday afternoon, they said. The officials said Lal was crossing the stream when a sudden surge in the water level due to incessant rains caught him. The body of the deceased was recovered and handed over to his family, they said.

A woman, identified as Jameela, was killed when a tree got uprooted due to heavy rains and fell on her temporary shelter at Kalamsatherdhar village of Kishtwar district, officials said. Jameela's daughter was also injured in the incident and was shifted to a hospital, they said.


Doberman

91 year old man dies after dog attack in Arcata, California

canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
A 91-year-old man was killed in a dog attack in Arcata on June 25, according to the Humboldt County Coroner's Office.

According to a press release, Donald Steele sustained fatal injuries consistent with a dog attack. His manner of death has been deemed "accidental."

The dog that allegedly attacked Steele was taken into the custody of Humboldt County Animal Control, according to the release. It tested negative for rabies and was euthanized June 28 under orders from the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services.

Comment: A report dated the 27th of June (before the victim died) from the Lost Coast Outpost provides more details:
An Arcata dog is being held in quarantine at the Humboldt County Animal Shelter for the time being, following a rampaging attack on two people Monday morning at the Town & Country Mobile Villa off Giuntoli Lane in Arcata.

The incident took place just before 11 a.m. on the 4900 block of Sierra Way, inside the park, and prompted a large response from police and paramedics. The dispatcher's log of the call reads: "[Reporting party] screaming into the phone about a dog attack, and that someone needs medical, just kept screaming hurry."

First responders at the scene referred to the incident as a "mauling," and quickly called for another ambulance for an additional patient. One of the patients was believed to have "critical" injuries, and the other had "moderate" injuries, according to emergency radio traffic at the time.

Lt. Bart Silvers of the Arcata Police Department told the Outpost today that both of the victims were adults, and that at least one of them is the dog's owner. He didn't have any updated information about their condition, but he confirmed that his officers captured the dog and took it to the animal shelter.

The dog is still there as of today, and is in a quarantined area of the shelter while it is determined whether or not it is rabid, according to Andre Hale, the shelter's manager.

Hale, reached this afternoon, says it hasn't yet been determined what will happen with the animal. (She would only characterize it as a "mixed-breed" dog.) In such cases, she said, the owner has 10 days to request the return of the pet or surrender it to the custody of the police. If that doesn't happen, the shelter would take custody. Either the shelter or the police agency would determine if the dog must be destroyed, which is usually the case when a dog severely injures a human.

Hale expects this to be the case, though the shelter doesn't a timetable at present. "Generally speaking, if the dog attacks the owner, the owner doesn't want the dog back," she said.



Cloud Precipitation

"We're in the tropics now!" Sheets of rain, strong winds and rockfall as heavy storm breaks Moscow heatwave

People cross a street during heavy rain in central Moscow, Russia on June 30, 2018
© Gleb Garanich / ReutersPeople cross a street during heavy rain in central Moscow, Russia on June 30, 2018
Heavy rain has hit Russia's capital, turning streets into wild rapids and even causing surprise rock-falls, rare in a largely flat region, giving Moscow a truly tropical feel amid unusually hot weather.

Massive rain and stormy winds hit Moscow on Saturday afternoon, seemingly putting an end to a nearly week-long spell of scorching heat. Emergency services released a warning ahead of the storm, forecasting hail, thunderstorms and strong winds peaking at 17-22 m/s (38-49 mph), advising citizens to stay home and not to brave the weather. The warning remains in place until Sunday.

Some trees have been reportedly brought down by strong winds across the Russian capital, but no information on injuries or casualties was immediately available.

Comment: The intensity of the seasons has increased dramatically on the planet, causing epic flooding, disastrous droughts, deadly winters, scorching summers and much more, although the overall trend is toward serious global cooling: Also in Russia:


And one probable source of some of the effects we're seeing:





Ice Cube

Two tankers trapped in ice near Russian Arctic port in midsummer

STUCK TANKERS
Shipping in the Gulf of Ob is paralysed and the situation complicated, icebreaker company Rosatomflot says.

It is late June, but the winter has not abandoned the Gulf of Ob. The shallow bay, which houses two of Russia's biggest Arctic out-shipment terminals for oil and gas, remains packed with fast ice.

It has created a complicated situation, Rosatomflot says. The state company which manages the Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers, confirms that independent shipping in the area is paralysed and that LNG carriers and tankers are stuck.