Earth ChangesS


Sun

Extreme drought across US Southwest - Oklahoma sees worst of it

Russell Contreras and Julian Hattem
Longview News-Journal
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 20:35 UTC
drought Oklahoma
Drought is tightening its grip across the Southwest as extreme conditions spread from Oklahoma to Utah, according to a new federal data released Thursday.

On the southern high plains, Oklahoma remains ground zero for the worst drought conditions in the United States. About 20 percent of the state is facing exceptional drought conditions - the worst possible classification.

Most of Colorado also is under severe drought and almost all of the Texas Panhandle is seeing extreme drought or worse conditions.

The federal drought map shows dry conditions have intensified across northern New Mexico and expanded in Arizona.
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Bizarro Earth

Mysterious earthquakes shake New Brunswick village again

Kevin Bissett
The Globe and Mail
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 22:46 UTC
Seismograph
© fotoalia.com
Two years after a mysterious "swarm" of earthquakes rattled homes and nerves in a New Brunswick village, they've started up again.

Earthquakes Canada has recorded 22 earthquakes in New Brunswick over the past 30 days, with most of those near McAdam, on the western edge of the province, near the border with the United States.

Mayor Ken Stannix said the quakes startle people, often producing a bang that's louder than a gunshot.

"I know when I first heard it, it sounded like the hot water tank may have exploded in the basement. Then we realized it was these earthquakes," Mr. Stannix said.

"It will wake you up in the middle of the night, but we've become accustomed to them. You wake up and say 'That must have been an earthquake,' and then you'll hear a couple softer bangs and then the event is over."

Stephen Halchuk, a seismologist at Natural Resources Canada, said all of the recent earthquakes have been minor - less than three on the Richter scale.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Large sinkhole swallows car in Hobart, Indiana


CBS News - Chicago
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 13:50 UTC
Hobard, IN sinkhole
© CBS News
Police in Hobart, Indiana, are warning drivers to stay away from a stretch of State Road 51 in a residential area, after a huge sinkhole opened in the street.

The sinkhole opened on Lincoln Street (State Road 51) near 9th Street late Wednesday morning, according to Hobart Police.

The hole was nearly the length of a Kia sedan that fell in the hole, and several feet wide. Both tires on the driver's side of the car fell in the hole, while the wheels on the passenger's side were still on the roadway.
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Fire

Wildfires in NW America in 2017 were the biggest ever recorded and had same effect as a volcanic eruption

Andy Coghlan
New Scientist
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 20:20 UTC
2017 wildfires in California
© Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department/Handout via REUTERS2017 wildfires in California
The wildfires that raged in northwest America last August were so ferocious that they had the same effect on the planet as a volcanic eruption.

The heat and smoke from the fires led to the formation of massive thunderstorms known as pyrocumulonimbus. These storms, called pyroCbs for short, pumped the smoke from the fires so high in the atmosphere that it spread over the entire northern hemisphere and remained there for months, until November and December.

It was by far the largest event like this ever recorded. "This was the mother of all pyroCbs," said David Peterson of the US Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California, who presented his team's finding this week at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna.

With 2017 being a record year for wildfires in the US, the worry is that this phenomenon will become more common as the planet warms. PyroCbs form from wildfires when conditions are right for the hot air and smoke to generate clouds, which can sometimes develop into a full-blown thunderstorm.

"The difference is that the thunderstorm is driven by fire heat, and you end up with a very dirty thunderstorm," said Peterson.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 2 while cremating villager's body in Odisha, India


Odisha Sun Times
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 19:22 UTC
lightning
A pall of gloom descended on Nuagaon village in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district after two persons were killed in lightning while they were cremating one of their fellow villager's body this afternoon.

According to reports, lightning struck Josen Majhi and Kuanra Soren when both of them among others villagers had taken one of their fellow villager's body to the shamshan ghat (cremation ground) to cremate his mortal remains.

Hearing the news, the local police rushed to the spot and took the bodies of Majhi and Soren to Betnoti Community Health Centre (CHC) for postmortem.

Following the tragic incident, the grief-striken villagers demanded compensation for the family members of the deceased persons.

Comment: Elsewhere in Asia recently an elderly man and a woman were killed by separate strikes in Nepal and a boy was fatally hit in Bangladesh.

Over in Africa a single bolt killed 3 people and 3 dogs on the 12th April in Zimbabwe.

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Snowflake

Antarctic snowfall has increased 10% in the last 200 years

Jonathan Amos
BBC
Mon, 09 Apr 2018 12:00 UTC
antarctica cores ice
© BASCores have been collected across the continent - making this the largest study of its kind
Scientists have compiled a record of snowfall in Antarctica going back 200 years.

The study shows there has been a significant increase in precipitation over the period, up 10%.

The effect of the extra snow locked up in Antarctica is to slightly slow a general trend in global sea-level rise.

However, this mitigation is still swamped by the contribution to the height of the oceans from ice melt around the continent.


Comment: Unsurprisingly no data is given to back up the claim that the snowfall is mitigated by ice melt - and there are many studies stating the contrary: Revealed: Antarctic ice growing, not shrinking


Some 272 billion tonnes more snow were being dumped on the White Continent annually in the decade 2001-2010 compared with 1801-1810.

This yearly extra is equivalent to twice the water volume found today in the Dead Sea.

Comment: See Also: Also check out SOTT's monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - March 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

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Cloud Precipitation

Strong storms slam Florida: Tornadoes confirmed in Fort Lauderdale, woman struck by lightning in Tampa area

Sean Breslin
The Weather Channel
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 19:08 UTC
Two Tornadoes Caused Minor Damage and Flight Delays in Florida
Two tornadoes caused minor damage and flight delays in Florida
A round of strong storms hit Florida on Tuesday, sparking lightning that reportedly injured one person and spawning two confirmed tornadoes.

Two tornadoes were confirmed in Broward County on Tuesday. One tornado was in progress in downtown Fort Lauderdale and the other was spotted at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

Both twisters were rated EF0 after damage surveys, the NWS also said.

In Palm Beach County, a reported twister whipped up winds that took down tree branches and toppled a lifeguard post at Lion Country Safari, according to the amusement park's Twitter page.

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Snowflake

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Southern Spain snow, Morocco snow and South Africa freeze in the crop belt


Adapt 2030
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 18:28 UTC
Even more fresh snow for the Sierra Nevada, Spain
Even more fresh snow for the Sierra Nevada, Spain
Southern Spain snows continue along with Morocco in the multiple foot range. We were fed that "Your Children will Never Know what Snow Is", now we get record late snows in these already warm locations. South Africa experiencing the same as Canada and the USA with cold smothering the grain belts with 10-20F below normal temperatures. Grand Solar Minimum grain staples price increases have begun.


Sources
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Ice Cube

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Hudson Bay ice anomaly and winter storm front 73 F temperature drop


Adapt 2030
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 18:21 UTC
ice cover
Hudson Bay is still at 100% ice coverage with no end in sight of warm enough temperatures to allow melting to begin. Strangely the Canadian Ice Service has not updated any weekly ice coverage charts against 30 year average in their data sets. All other products are updated except that data set. Blizzard begins to rip across USA and Canada dropping temperatures along the storm front by 73 F. Another Atlantic Low heads toward UK and Europe.


Sources
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Cloud Precipitation

17 people killed in hailstorm in Rajasthan, India


The Quaint
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:20 UTC
7 people were killed in Dholpur, as a hailstorm hit the region on Wednesday, 11 April.
© ANI7 people were killed in Dholpur, as a hailstorm hit the region on Wednesday, 11 April.
A hailstorm hit Rajasthan on Wednesday evening, leading to the death of twelve people in Dholpur and five people in Bharatpur, reports ANI. Several others were injured, who are currently undergoing treatment.

Train movement along the Agra-Dholpur line was also affected by the hailstorm.

ANI further reports that the roads flanking the respective regions were completely water-logged as a result of the storm, making it difficult for the locals to commute.

Comment: Elsewhere in India 44 were killed by a hailstorm in the state of Uttar Pradesh on the 12th of April.

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