Earth ChangesS


Black Cat

Man sustains minor injuries after attack by mountain lion near Libby, Montana


ktvq.com
Tue, 30 May 2017 19:08 UTC
A cougar
© DreamstimeA cougar
Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks are investigating reports that a man was attacked by a mountain lion near Libby.

Wardens received a report on Saturday, May 27 that a man sustained minor injuries from an encounter with a mountain lion near Boundary Mountain North of Libby on Friday morning.

The man, whose name has not been released, told investigators he was trying to drag out a log he had cut for firewood when he was hit by the mountain lion and knocked into a tree.

His report goes on to say that he swung back at the animal and hit it before running to his truck.

He told FWP wardens that he scared the lion off with his truck after the animal approached him a second time.

Wardens say the man received superficial scratches to the side of his face and stomach. He reportedly did not seek medical attention.
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Cloud Precipitation

Sri Lanka disaster update: Foreign aid arrives as flood death toll exceeds 200


Al Jazeera
Wed, 31 May 2017 17:36 UTC
Foreign aid arrives as Sri Lanka flood toll exceeds 200
Foreign aid arrives as Sri Lanka flood toll exceeds 200
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans remained away from their homes on Wednesday, as the death toll from devastating floods and mudslides climbed past 200, officials said.

Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had rushed relief supplies and medicine to assist more than 600,000 people who were driven away from their homes following Friday's monsoon deluge.

"We also have a lot of enquiries from other countries and organisations wanting to know our immediate needs. We are moved by the spontaneous response," Karunanayake told reporters in the capital, Colombo.

India and Pakistan have also deployed medical teams on the ground in some of the worst-affected areas, he said.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) confirmed the death toll rose to 202 after the discovery of more landslide victims beneath tonnes of mud in Sri Lanka's hard-hit southwest.

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Better Earth

Ouch! Dutch wood closed to public after buzzard attacks


Dutch News
Wed, 31 May 2017 17:37 UTC
warning about buzzards
© DutchNews.nl Read more at DutchNews.nl: Dutch wood closed to public after buzzard attacks http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/05/dutch-wood-closed-to-public-after-buzzard-attacks/
A regional park organisation in Zuid-Holland has closed a popular wooded area near Lisse to the public because several people have been attacked by buzzards. The Keukenhofbosch, close to the popular tulip park, is home to a breeding pair and several people have been left with bloody injuries, a forestry worker from Het Zuid-Hollands Landschap told news agency ANP. Reports about the buzzards' aggressive behaviour were first recorded several weeks ago.

'They attack people who come to close or enter their territory,' the spokesman said. 'Sometimes they pretend to attack but some people have actually been pecked, resulting in nasty head wounds.' The young buzzards will likely leave the nest within six weeks or so, and then the wood can be reopened to the public.
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Tornado1

Rare red tornado tears through a town in Mexico - terrifying locals into thinking that the world was ending

Liz Dunphy
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 31 May 2017 16:44 UTC
red tornado
© CENWitnesses feared that it was the 'end of the world' they said, so violent was the swirling tornado
A giant tornado tore through a Mexican town, terrifying locals who feared it was 'the end of the world'. Locals filmed the dramatic weather event in the town of Sainapuchi, in Mexico as it ripped panels off roofs and drew up sand and dirt into its vortex. Witnesses feared that it was the 'end of the world' they said, so violent was the swirling tornado.

But although residents were terrified by the event, luckily nobody was badly injured. The unusual tornado - which is known as a 'snake'- has a conical shape connecting both ends of the wind swirl as it spirals high into the sky. The State Civil Protection Coordination service said that is called a 'feeder' or energy feeder.


Additional images
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Cloud Lightning

Three children killed by lightning bolt in Bihar, India


India Today
Tue, 30 May 2017 13:27 UTC
lightning
Three minor boys were killed and another sustained burn injuries after lightning struck them today at a village in Jamui district, a police officer said.

The incident took place at Harihar village when the boys were standing under a mango tree to avoid getting drenched in rain, Khaira police station in-charge Srikant Kumar said.

While three boys, identified as Dilkhush Kumar (13), Suraj Kumar (12) and Vipin Kumar (13) died on the spot, another 13 year-old boy Rajiv Kumar sustained burn injuries, he said.

The injured was admitted to a government hospital, the police officer added.

Source: Press Trust of India

Comment: Elsewhere across Asia recently 2 teenagers out on a motorcycle were killed by a lightning strike in Myanmar while a farmer in Bangladesh also succumbed after being hit.

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Eye 2

Snake regurgitating another live snake filmed in Newton, Texas

Ben Hooper
UPI
Tue, 30 May 2017 09:11 UTC
Snake regurgitates live snake in video captured in Texas
Snake regurgitates live snake in video captured in Texas
A Texas couple taking video of a snake with a strange object in its mouth were shocked when the serpent regurgitated a second snake, which was still alive.

Christopher Reynolds said he and his wife were leaving his mother's Newton home Sunday when he spotted a snake near the road and stopped to look at the reptile.

Reynolds said he and his wife initially thought the snake, which had a strange object in its mouth, was dead, but it soon surprised them by starting to move.

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Attention

Pelicans found sick, dying along the coast at Ventura and Santa Barbara, California

Cheri Carlson
Ventura County Star
Sat, 27 May 2017 20:53 UTC
dead birds
A local rescue group has found dozens of sick and dying pelicans along the Ventura and Santa Barbara coasts in recent weeks.

One cause likely is domoic acid poisoning, which has taken a toll on birds and marine mammals throughout California in recent months.

Domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin in the algae.

Fish eat the algae but generally not enough to harm them. Sea lions and birds, however, eat so many of the fish that they are getting a level that is toxic to them.

For a while, the hardest hit type of bird seemed to be loons, said Julia Parker, animal care director for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network.

"Now, it's affecting the pelicans," she said.

Comment: See also: Algae toxin killing marine mammals along Southern California coast

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Newspaper

Thunder? Mystery boom jolts awake residents of Tauranga, New Zealand


stuff.co.nz
Tue, 30 May 2017 20:27 UTC
Lightning in a thunderstorm
© stuff.co.nzMetService says the loud bang was probably thunder, but not all locals are convinced.
A mystery bang is the talk of Tauranga after it woke many locals in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Police and MetService say it was likely just thunder, but residents aren't so sure.

One local believed it could have been a meteor, another thought it was an earthquake, while a third believed a "sonic boom" was the cause.

Helen Lynam wasn't convinced that it was thunder. "It was loud and like a boom/bang sound. I didn't think it was thunder, it didn't have that sort of sound to it."

A member of the Tauranga Weather Facebook group said her pets had been "going weird" in the moments before the noise was heard.
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Road Cone

Updates: Worst ever natural disaster: Death toll from Moscow storm rises to 16 (VIDEOS)


Stuff.co.nz
Tue, 30 May 2017 02:49 UTC
Moscow storm
© REUTERS/ALEXANDER PANCHENKOA car uplifted by the roots of a fallen tree in Moscow.
As many 12 people were killed and scores injured by falling trees and debris from buildings as a violent storm swept through Moscow.

Pictures posted on social media showed uprooted trees, shattered bus shelters and a construction crane that blew over in the storm.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin offered his condolences to the victims and said that several hundred trees were uprooted. "We are taking the necessary measures to deal with the consequences," he said on Twitter.

"The hurricane was unprecedented for Moscow," TASS news agency quoted him as saying.

He said hundreds of trees were toppled, as meteorologists reported winds of up to 80kmh.


Comment: Monday's storm is one of the deadliest on record in the Russian capital. Nine people died and 165 were injured in the city in a similar disaster in 1998, while at least nine people were killed in a storm in 1904.

"Winds gusted as high as 70 mph during the storm, which is rare for Moscow," said weather.com meteorologist Brian Donegan. A top emergency official said that 60,000 people in Russia's Stavropol region are being evacuated due to the threat of flooding.

Update 30 May 2017, 21.30 CET

The latest figures place the death toll at 16, with at least another hundred people injured, and the number of fallen trees at 27,000. And it was all over in just ten minutes...

This was therefore the worst storm to hit Moscow in living memory, and probably the worst since the 19th century.

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Sun

Magnificent ring around the sun seen in Lake Tahoe, California

Amy Graff
SF Gate
Mon, 29 May 2017 14:29 UTC
Solar halo in Tahoe, California
© Amie Quirarte
A 22 degree halo was seen around the sun on Monday, May 29, 2017, in the Tahoe area

SFGate reader Amie Quirarte of Tahoe Vista noticed what's known as a 22 degree halo at around 1 p.m. while sitting in her backyard with her husband, and shared the image above.

"I have not seen this before," Quirarte, who works as a real estate agent in Tahoe, wrote in a message to SFGate. "I looked up in gratitude and noticed a rainbow around the sun. I instantly told my husband to check it out. When he reassured me I wasn't crazy, I took a couple photos and posted them on social media. Within a few minutes, I had comments from friends saying they could see the same phenomenon in the sky.
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