Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Changing atmosphere: Red sprites and a blue jet seen above Europe's stormy skies

Chad Seabrook
Sott.net
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 09:15 UTC
andromeda galaxy and red sprites
© Petr Horálek / spaceweather.comSprite And Andromeda Galaxy Taken by Petr Horálek on June 11, 2018 @ Proseč, Czech Republic
Following a particularly brutal and prolonged winter, Europe is now experiencing an unusually stormy spring period, with epic flooding and damaging hail being documented over the continent. Lightning frequency appears to be increasing too, with France doubling its 2009 record for the month of May, while January 2018 saw some areas of France double average rainfalls.

Accompanying these unusually intense spring storms, typical of late summer, have been 'rare' atmospheric electrical discharges. Red sprites were photographed over the Czech Republic on April 4th, in the US on May 24th and May 30th, and again in the Czech Republic on June 8th. Over a period of 48 hours or so around June 10th, the more elusive blue jet was seen over Hungary:

blue jet hungary June 10th 2018
© Dániel Agocs / IdokepA blue jet photographed by Dániel Agocs, from Kunhegyes, Hungary.
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Attention

Africa's oldest and largest baobab trees are suddenly dying after thousands of years

Nadia Drake
National Geographic
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 12:00 UTC
One baobab tree has been estimated to be 2,500 years old.
© Alamy Stock PhotoOne baobab tree has been estimated to be 2,500 years old.
In South Africa's Limpopo province, a baobab tree once grew so large and stood so strong that its human neighbors decided to do the obvious: They built a pub inside the living tree's thousand-year-old hollow trunk, which measured more than 150 feet around and enclosed two interconnected cavities.

For two decades, the Sunland baobab attracted tourists wanting to knock back a pint in a tree. But in August 2016, one of the monster stems forming the interior wall cracked and collapsed. Eight months later, another huge chunk toppled over, and now, five of the giant Sunland stems have collapsed and died, leaving only half of the tree standing.

Though the Sunland tree's demise could sound like a consequence of human visitation, it's part of an alarming trend: A startlingly high percentage of the oldest, largest baobabs in Africa have died within the last 12 years, scientists report today in the journal Nature Plants.

Comment: Interestingly, at 1,000 years old, one of Wales' oldest oak tree's recently died following a storm, and in India a 700-year-old banyan tree had to be put on a life-saving drip. Also, one of the oldest sequoias in California died last year too.

In the animal world, reports of mass mortality events with no discernible cause appear to be on the rise, alongside a worldwide collapse of insect populations.

When taken together, with the obvious changes to climate patterns, the erratic, shifting of seasons, and the consequential crop delays, damage and failure, there clearly are great changes afoot on our planet which we cannot yet fully account for - but for goodness sake, that doesn't mean it's 'not natural'!

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Compass

Kilauea volcano causes magnetic field distortion - Sends compasses in crazy directions

Paul Baldwin
Express
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 05:33 UTC
Kilauea magnetic field
Hawaii latest: Compasses are being sent crazy by the anomaly
Mount Kilauea, Hawaii's erupting volcano, has a magnetic field which flows in the OPPOSITE direction to the rest of the planet, scientists have discovered

The bizarre finding, which sends compasses into an uncontrollable spin, had scientists baffled - while locals linked it to Hawaiian folklore which attaches deep spiritual significance to the massive volcano which is almost one million years old.

But now the reason for the magnetic volte-face has been explained - and it's even more mind-blowing.

According to geologists the molten rock below the Mount Kilauea caldera contains vast amounts of iron and is effectively a sea of floating magnets.

About 780,000 years ago the rock cooled and simultaneously the Earth's magnetic field inexplicably FLIPPED - the South Pole became the North and the North Pole became the South.

Comment: More on what is arguably one of the most dramatic of all known historical (and possibly future) Earth changes:

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Cloud Precipitation

Flash flooding hits Guadalajara, Mexico - Passengers forced to swim out of rail cars


Mexico News Daily
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 20:25 UTC
flooding guadalajara jalisco
A strong storm struck Guadalajara, Jalisco, yesterday producing flash flooding that affected several parts of the city, including the light rail system from which scores of people had to be rescued.

Water up to four meters deep flooded the Dermatológico station on line 1 and trapped about 40 people inside the carriages of a stationary train.

Civil Protection personnel, firefighters and local residents all contributed to the rescue efforts.

In a video that was live-streamed on Facebook by one stranded passenger, people could be seen waist-deep in water and a distressed baby can be heard crying. In another video, passengers were attempting to swim to safety.

Comment: More footage of the flooding in Jalisco, Mexico:





Meanwhile around the world in the last 24 hours - in Chile:




Saudi Arabia:


Italy:


France:


Germany:


Scotland:


Bulgaria:


Panama:




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Fire

Forest-wide closure ordered in Colorado as firefighters battle raging wildfires


RT
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 15:12 UTC
durango colorado forest fire june 2018
Authorities have issued a forest-wide closure order in Colorado, warning residents and ramblers to stay out of the forest while the threat of wildfires remain high.

Firefighters are braced for more dry weather as they battle to put out raging wildfires in the Centennial State.

A number of fires have plagued parts of Durango and local authorities warning that parched conditions in the area look set to continue. The area bordering New Mexico is known for its acres of natural parks and forests.

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Seismograph

Small earthquake hits western North Carolina with a 'loud boom'


WJBF
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 04:04 UTC
North Carolina earthquake with boom
© USGS/WNCN
A small earthquake hit a county in the North Carolina mountains on Sunday evening, officials said.

The 2.6 magnitude was in Wilkes County less than a mile from the town of Hays, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The earthquake was felt in Blowing Rock, about 40 miles away, officials said.

The quake, which hit around 8 p.m., had a depth of 4.3 kilometers.

A weather website based in the area reported on Facebook that they heard a "loud boom." Others commented on Facebook that they heard two "loud booms."
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Rainbow

'Upside-down rainbow' seen in Newcastle, UK sky

Sean Seddon
Chronicle Live
Sun, 10 Jun 2018 16:00 UTC
Circumzenithal arc over Newcastle
© Lewis Maudlin
Anybody spot an upside-down rainbow in the sky over Newcastle?

The phenomenon occurred over the city on Saturday evening and luckily someone got a picture.

Lewis Maudlin, 24, from Wallsend, was playing pool at his girlfriend's house in Walker when he clocked the uncommon sight.

He said: "It was lovely night, still dead sunny and clear after 7pm.
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Snowflake Cold

Global cooling: Summer solstice is approaching, but snow has piled up across the US Northwest this weekend

Angela Fritz
The Washington Post
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 18:28 UTC
Logan Pass at Glacier National Park in Montana.
© National Park ServiceLogan Pass at Glacier National Park in Montana.
While the East simmered in humid summer weather this weekend, the Northwest got a flashback of winter.

Several inches of snow fell across Idaho and Montana over the weekend, turning places like Big Sky Resort and Glacier National Park into a winter wonderland in spite of the calendar.

On Saturday the National Weather Service warned that winter conditions would affect outdoor recreation. Across the high elevations of the Northwest, the snow plows had to be pulled from their summer hibernation.

What makes this even more interesting is the heat on the other side of Montana on Saturday. As an upper-level trough approached, winds from the south pushed temperatures into the 90s across Central Montana. Scattered, summertime thunderstorms popped up in the warm, humid air.
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Snowflake

Global cooling: Areas of British Columbia receive up to 15 inches of snow in JUNE

Elizabeth Keith
Narcity
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 18:03 UTC
SNOW
Snow at Silver Star Ski Resort on June 10, 2018
Welcome to Canada where seasons mean nothing and the weather changes in the blink of an eye. The latest victim of Canada's unpredictable weather patterns is none other than our western most province, British Columbia.

BC was hit this past weekend with about a foot of snow in some areas, or for those of us using the metric system, anywhere from 22 - 40 cms of snow accumulated in parts of the province.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 at hockey match in Odisha, India

Rajesh Mohanty
The Telegraph India
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 17:38 UTC
lightning
Lightning killed three persons during a hockey match at Sagbahal village in Talsara police limits, nearly 80km from here, on Sunday.

The three, all in their 20s, are among the seven persons killed in lightning strikes across the state on Sunday. Other than the hockey players, three were killed in Balasore and one in Mayurbhanj.

Those killed in the hockey match, which was being watched by a crowd of 700-800 villagers, have been identified as Rabi Narayana Tanty, Sumanat Gouda and Susanta Goudain.

Eyewitnesses said the victims had stopped the match midway and took shelter under a big banyan tree when it started to rain heavily.

The match was being played between the host village and a neighbouring village with a goat as the trophy.

Comment: Additionally across Asia over the last 2 days lightning strikes have killed 2 children in Pakistan, another 2 in Nepal and one individual in Calcutta, India.

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