Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Nine people and over 120 animals killed by lightning strikes in just one month across Turkey


Hurriyet Daily News
Thu, 17 May 2018 13:27 UTC
lIGHTNING
A total of nine people have been killed due to lightning strikes over the past month across Turkey, with experts warning that the rising number of such incidents could be related to a boom in magnetic fields across the world, daily Habertürk reported on May 17.

Some 26 people were injured and more than 120 animals were also killed by lightning strikes in Turkey, according to recent reports from European Lightning Strikes Monitoring System.

Around 200,000 lighting strike incidents occurred across Europe countries over the past month, with the Turkish authorities confirming those figures and adding that the number of lighting strike incidents have also increased in the country.
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Wolf

Pit bull attack on 4-year-old videoed in St. James City, Florida


fox4now.com
Wed, 16 May 2018 13:01 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A dog owner says he will try to retrieve his pet from animal services after it attacked a small child in St. James City.

The incident happened Friday, in the parking lot of Winn Dixie on Stringfellow Road. The 4-year-old child involved in the attack was flown to Tampa General Hospital for injuries on his face. His family said he is expected to make a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, Sage, the 4-year-old Pit Bull, is quarantined at Lee County Animal Services until May 21st. Surveillance video showed the dog dart between cars, and take down the child. Despite the incident, her owner believes Sage is a sweet dog, and said the incident was an accident.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike kills one, injures 2 others in Parkland, Florida

Joan Murray
cbslocal.com
Wed, 16 May 2018 12:52 UTC
lightning
A lightning strike killed a woman and injured two other people in Parkland Wednesday afternoon.

Coral Springs Fire Rescue confirms a 911 call came in at 2:08 p.m. to report that two people had been struck by lightning at C.W. Hendrix Farms located at University Drive and Loxahatchee Road.

The woman, identified as 53-year-old Maria Francisco Pascual of Lake Worth, was pronounced dead.

According to BSO, Pascual was working in the fields when she was hit by lightning. A man and woman working nearby sustained lightning related injuries.

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Cloud Precipitation

Tens of thousands ordered to evacuate after floods at Colombia's Hidroituango dam

Joe Parkin Daniels
The Guardian
Wed, 16 May 2018 21:30 UTC
Colombia dam flood
© Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty ImagesDisplaced families from the banks of the Cauca river camp on a road near Ituango municipality on 13 May 2018.

600 people already left homeless after heavy floods at hydroelectric dam project, with another wave of flooding feared

Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes in western Colombia after heavy floods at Colombia's largest hydroelectric dam project, which had already displaced hundreds over the weekend.

The Hidroituango dam on the river Cauca was in the final stages of construction when a blocked tunnel was cleared on Saturday night, causing flooding downstream that swept through a riverside hamlet. Six hundred people were left homeless and two bridges, two schools and a health centre were destroyed.

On Wednesday, authorities issued evacuation orders for eight municipalities downstream from the dam amid fears of another wave of flooding as heavy rains continue to batter the megaproject.

Comment: At least 41 people were killed after a dam break in Kenya recently following record flooding.

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Cloud Lightning

Five dead, nearly 300,000 without power as severe storms hit US Northeast

Pam Wright
The Weather Channel
Thu, 17 May 2018 00:10 UTC
Newburgh storm damage
© AP Photo/Seth WenigTrees and power lines are scattered across a road in Newburgh, N.Y., Wednesday, May 16, 2018.
Two people died in Connecticut, including a Danbury man who was killed when a tree fell on his truck, according to the Associated Press. Connecticut State Police say a tree also fell on a car on Brush Hill Road in New Fairfield, killing a 41-year-old woman.

Matthew Ryan, 31, of Kunkletown, Pennsylvania, was killed when a tree fell on a vehicle near the town of Effort in the Poconos, WNEP.com reported.

An 11-year-old New York girl was killed when a large tree toppled onto the car she was in with her mother in Newburgh. The mother suffered minor injuries, the Associated Press reported. Another woman was killed in the same town of Newburgh when a tree fell on her vehicle, authorities confirmed.

The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF0 tornado hit Newburgh, which is located in Orange County. Conditions were so bad with downed trees and damage to electrical infrastructure that the city closed all roads Tuesday evening until further notice.

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Bizarro Earth

Climate scientists find the wind is slowing down

Michael Lucy
Cosmos Magazine
Wed, 16 May 2018 18:06 UTC
windblown tree
© NickRH / getty images
Near-surface wind speeds over landmasses across the planet have dropped by as much as 25% since the 1970s, and climate scientists are taking note.

The wind isn't what it used to be. Scientists say surface wind speeds across the planet have fallen by as much as 25% since the 1970s. The eerie phenomenon - dubbed 'stilling' - is believed to be a consequence of global warming, and may impact everything from agriculture to the liveability of our cities. It has taken more than a decade for scientists to get a handle on stilling, a term coined by Australian National University ecohydrologist Michael Roderick in 2007.

Roderick had spent years studying a 50-year decline across Europe and North America of a climate metric called pan evaporation. It measures the rate at which water evaporates from a dish left outside. With his colleague biophysicist Graham Farquhar, he found the cause: the sunlight had dimmed due to air pollution. Less light equals slower evaporation.

Comment: There other possible factors that could be considered besides "global warming". The Earth's rotation is slowing, cosmic ray bombardment is increasing.

Changes In Winds Could Have Been Cause Of Abrupt Glacial Climatic Change

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Sun

Amazing 'sun dog' phenomenon seen in the sky above Cambridge, UK

Adam Care and Samar Maguire
Cambridge News
Tue, 15 May 2018 20:31 UTC
Sun dog over Cambridge, UK
© Howard Moshtael
This is the moment a rare 'mock sun' appeared in the sky above one of Cambridge's best-known landmarks.

These pictures, taken today on Parker's Piece, show a 'sun dog', a rare solar event in which a second sun appears alongside our Sun.

It was spotted by Dr Howard Moshtael, 30, who is a science teacher at Hills Road Sixth Form and North Cambridge Academy.

He said: "I was just chilling with my friend after playing football in Parker's Piece before I looked up and beheld a little section of rainbow to the left of the sun and realised it was a sun dog.
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Cloud Precipitation

At least 34 dead after flash floods hit 11 provinces of Afghanistan

Richard Davies
FloodList
Wed, 16 May 2018 13:41 UTC
flood
At least 34 people have died and 4 injured in flash floods in Afghanistan over the last 7 days.

The Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) reported that the flooding had affected 11 provinces. Around 600 animals have died, 240 houses destroyed and 624 houses damaged. Around 80 hectares of agricultural land was also severely damaged.

The affected provinces include Samangan, Takhar, Kapisa, Baghlan, Badakhshan, Badghis, Ghor, Panjshir, Sari Pul, Ghazni and Parwan provinces.

ANDMA says it will carry out damage assessments in order to assist affect communities. So far relief supplies have been distributed to affected families in Parwan and Sari Pul.

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Attention

Two dead whale sharks discovered in Myanmar (Burma) - 4 found locally in 2 months

Phyo Zin
Eleven
Wed, 16 May 2018 12:54 UTC
Whale shark
Whale shark
Fishermen found two dead bodies of whale sharks, one of the endangered species, in a fishing net along the coastal areas of Yayphyu Township, Dawei district, Taninthayi region on May 13 and tugged them to Daminsake beach.

"The dead bodies arrived around 5:30 pm. The fishes got caught in the net and they couldn't escape. The fishermen could not free them in the sea and tugged them to the beach. We have found four dead whale sharks from April to May. We informed the authorities and they told me to bury them. So we dug a deep hole with a backhoe. They couldn't swim back to the deep sea after they arrived in shallow water," said a local Moe Naing.

Comment: There seems to have been a high number of such incidents involving this species over the last 2 years, see also: Body of whale shark found washed ashore in Tamil Nadu, India; third in the region since May

Another whale shark found dead, the latest in Gujarat, India

Three dead beached whale sharks found in Indonesia

Whale shark found washed ashore in Tamil Nadu, India

Dead whale shark washes ashore on beach in Puri, India

Dead whale shark found in Tanza Bay, Philippines

Dead whale shark found in Tamil Nadu, India

Dead whale shark found on beach in Odisha, India

Whale shark discovered dead in coastal waters of Shandong, China

Whale shark found dead at Palghar, India

Dead whale shark discovered on coast of Bukas Grande Island, Philippines

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Cloud Precipitation

Giant hailstones the size of PALMS pound Chinese city for 20 minutes

Tiffany Lo
Daily Mail
Tue, 15 May 2018 12:41 UTC
The pellets have caused damage to cars that parked on the street as it hit the windows
The pellets have caused damage to cars that parked on the street as it hit the windows
A city in north-west China was heavily hit by a hailstorm today.

Footage released by Chinese media shows a resident holding a massive hailstone as big as her palm.

Local meteorological bureau has issued amber storm signal and advised residents to stay indoor to avoid getting injured.

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