Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Flooding hits Cape Town, South Africa after long drought

Ravensmead flooding.
Ravensmead flooding.
The Mother City was lashed by heavy rains overnight, leading to widespread localised flooding in areas around the metropole.

Drought-stricken Cape Town was lashed by heavy rains overnight, leading to widespread localised flooding in areas around the metropole.

The weather service had predicted thunderstorms and heavy rains while the City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management had been placed on standby in the event of flooding and other emergencies.


Wine n Glass

Global wine output falls to 60-year low due to poor weather conditions in EU

vinyard poor weather conditions lowers wine output
A staff member works in a wine yard in Vinzel, Switzerland, April 24, 2018.

Global wine output fell to its lowest level in 60 years in 2017 due to poor weather conditions in the European Union that slashed production in the bloc, international wine organisation OIV said.

Wine production totaled 250 million hectoliters last year, down 8.6 percent from 2016, data from the Paris-based International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) released on Tuesday showed.

It is the lowest level since 1957, when it had fallen to 173.8 million hectoliters, the OIV told Reuters.

A hectoliter represents 100 liters, or the equivalent of just over 133 standard 75 cl wine bottles.

All top wine producers in the EU have been hit by harsh weather last year, which lead to an overall fall in the bloc of 14.6 percent to 141 million hectoliters.

Comment: Unpredictable and extreme weather events have been taking a toll on crops worldwide:


Cloud Precipitation

Floods leave 72 people dead and 211,000 displaced in Kenya - thousands of livestock killed

Police Constable Abdi Galgalo of Sultan Hamud Police Station captured by a motorist while directing traffic on a flooded section of the Nairobi-Mombasa highway at Sultan Hamud on Saturday.
Police Constable Abdi Galgalo of Sultan Hamud Police Station captured by a motorist while directing traffic on a flooded section of the Nairobi-Mombasa highway at Sultan Hamud on Saturday.
More than 211,000 people have been displaced by flooding in Kenya according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

According to the OCHA report, 72 people have reportedly died and 33 injured in flooding since March 2018.

The current wave of flooding began around mid-April. In mid-March the country experienced flooding which left least 15 people dead and hundreds displaced. At the beginning of March at least 7 people died during a period of heavy rain.

According to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), the worst affected counties are, Tana River, Garissa, Isiolo, Kisumu, Taita, Mandera, Wajir, Marsabit, West Pokot, Samburu and Narok. About 50,000 people have had to leave their homes in Tana River County.


Attention

Dead Bryde's whales keep washing up in Mossel Bay, South Africa - 3 in 2 weeks

dead whale
After three Bryde's whales died off Mossel Bay's coast in the past two weeks alone, an investigation is now underway by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (DAFF) to figure out why, reports Times LIVE:

Bryde's whales are divided into an inshore and an offshore form, and the latest assessment of the species by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) classified the inshore form as "Vulnerable" and the offshore form as "Data Deficient":

And the three that washed up along the shores of Mossel Bay were of the inshore form, all dying from suspected entanglement [above]:

Snowflake Cold

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Climate pattern shift in Europe with vineyard & grain crop losses

predicted french vineyard losses
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
Climate patterns are shifting in Europe as Atlantic waters become cooler, and as what happened with European agriculture will occur again and already is. Colder and wetter resulting in vineyard, orchard and grain losses. French vineyard loss map provided by ADAPT 2030. Romania orchard losses and historical wheat pricing in bad harvests circa 1770 Europe.


Camcorder

Footage shows passenger jet landing ahead of a massive sand storm in Saudi Arabia

Jet landing in Saudi Arabia sand storm
© twitter@AviationDaillyAs the jet approached the runway, only a few hundred metres of the strip could be seen ahead of the sand storm
These are the incredible scenes as a Saudi passenger jet landed ahead of a massive sand storm which had engulfed the furthest end of the runway.

According to Saudi aviation bloggers, the jet, which is believed to be an Airbus A320 landed recently at Jazan Airport in the south of the country.

The footage, which was shot out of the cockpit, shows the jet being buffeted by wind as it approached the runway.

However, the pilot during the approach was unable to see the airport's control tower which was covered in sand.

Seconds after the jet touched down the video showed visibility disappear as the pilots slowed down while following the centre line of the runway.


Comment: Last week a fierce dust storm, known as a haboob, engulfed the historic Iranian city of Yazd.


Cloud Precipitation

Two killed as flash floods hit Israel and West Bank

Flash flooding in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv
© Screengrab from video/Emily GattFlash flooding in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday April 25, 2018.
Two teens, one Israeli male and one Palestinian woman, drowned on Wednesday as a sudden storm lashed the region, bringing flash flooding and heavy hail.

Both teens were aged seventeen. Palestinian authorities said a female died after being swept away near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, while Israeli police said the male teen died near the town of Yeruham in the desert Negev region.

An additional Palestinian teenager was reported missing near the West Bank city of Hebron, where Palestinian and Israeli officials are searching for her.

Major flooding has been reported through the streets of all major cities and waters in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv rose to knee height in a matter of minutes, witnesses said.


Music

'Trumpet-like sounds' heard in Queens, New York

Strange sounds inn Queens, NY
© YouTube/A Fox
Trumpet-like sounds were heard and recorded by YouTuber 'A Fox' over Queens, New York. He reports that he heard them just before an airplane flew overhead:
...and the plane for a few seconds suddenly sounds as if it's echoing off of something metallic, as well as the trumpet sounds themselves become more metallic and both sound very slightly muffled, only until the plane starts to move away; it's the best way I can describe it.
The sounds began when he was idling his car at around 9:00 a.m. and lasted about 5 minutes.

'A Fox' posted another strange sounds video in December of 2017 that lasted about 10 minutes.


Snowflake

Mt. Baker ski resort in Washington finishes season with 70 feet of snow - third-highest this century

Mt. Baker shows off its massive coat of snow as seen from Lyden, Wash.
© Randy SmallMt. Baker shows off its massive coat of snow as seen from Lyden, Wash.
You'd expect the spot that holds the World Record for most snow in a season to get quite a bit of snow in a winter, and this year was no different for Mt. Baker.

The ski resort declared their 2017-2018 season over on Monday, and what a season it was. The resort measured 840 inches of total snow through Monday -- 70 feet! That's the third-highest amount recorded this century, behind last year's 866 inches and the 857 inches recorded in 2010-2011.

Their 15 year average is 663 inches.


Info

Unique hybrid population: Promiscuous monkeys discovered mating with other species

A blue monkey
© AlamyA blue monkey
When it comes to finding a partner, monkeys are not necessarily so picky they insist a mate comes from the same species.

New genetic research suggests that primates in Tanzania are so promiscuous they will happily cross the species divide.

The study shows red-tailed and blue monkeys living in Gombe National Park regularly get together - despite being entirely separate creatures with entirely different looks and social structures.

It is the first time that such cross-divide mating has been proven among guenon monkeys.