Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Heavy snow and snapping trees concern forest owners in Norway


The Local (Norway)
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 14:46 UTC
tree damage
© Berit Heggholmen
Forest owners in Norway say they are concerned about damage to trees and subsequent loss of earnings caused by heavy snow .

"We can no longer be sure of stable winters," forest owner Thor Wraa told broadcaster NRK.

A week of extreme weather with heavy snowfall in several parts of the country has caused significant disruption, with fallen trees dragging down telephone wires and blocking roads.

Wraa, who comes from the northern Telemark county, told NRK that falling trees directly affected his livelihood.

"We are concerned. Trees with as much snow as there is now are right on the limit of breaking or falling," he said.
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Snowflake

Over a meter of snow dumps on the Alps in 72 hours, with another meter forecast over next 3 days

Patrick Thorne
inthesnow.com
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 13:45 UTC
snow
A number of ski areas in the Alps have reported up to 1.3m (over four feet) of snowfall in the past 72 hours and forecasters are expecting up to 1.3m (over four feet) of snowfall in the next 72 hours.

All the snow is good news for resort bases, but less good for skiers and boarders in resort at present, or travelling out tomorrow, Saturday 20th January, as ski areas are only able to open limited terrain safely, conditions are frequently poor even in those limited open areas , and travel to and from resorts can be difficult.

Austria's Ziller Valley is reporting 1.2m (four feet) of snow in the past 72 hours with Verbier reporting 105cm and the Portes du Soleil region up to 90cm (three feet) of snow. Many other resorts including Crans Montana, Davos, Laax, La Plagne and Zermatt have had 60-90cm of new snowfall.

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Attention

High winds, big waves batter west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada (swells of up to 9.5 metres)


Vancouver Courier
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 13:27 UTC
High waves pushed logs up on North Chesterman Beach in Tofino on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018.
© April FromentHigh waves pushed logs up on North Chesterman Beach in Tofino on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018.
Several beaches, including those in Pacific Rim National Park, were closed Thursday as the west coast of Vancouver Island was hit with high winds and swells of up to 9.5 metres.

CTV reports that they were some of the largest waves seen on the west coast of Vancouver Island in a decade - possibly the largest ever.

"Mostly, it's the danger of the water," Randy Mercer of Parks Canada told CHEK News of the decision to close the beaches. There's a risk of being knocked down and dragged out by the waves, or being struck by floating logs, he said.

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Attention

Over 100 Olive Ridley turtles found dead along coast in Tamil Nadu, India

Manasa Rao
The Quint
Sat, 20 Jan 2018 13:17 UTC
Over the past week, more than a hundred Olive Ridley turtles have washed up dead on the beaches of Chennai, and many more are believed to be floating dead on Bay of Bengal.
© The News MinuteOver the past week, more than a hundred Olive Ridley turtles have washed up dead on the beaches of Chennai, and many more are believed to be floating dead on Bay of Bengal.
Over the past week, more than a 100 Olive Ridley turtles have washed up dead on the beaches of Chennai, and many more are believed to be floating dead on Bay of Bengal.

The endangered Oliver Ridley turtles, well-known for their coordinated nesting in large numbers, generally make their annual trip up the Bay of Bengal during the breeding months of December and January. However, the use of trawlers and gill nets have historically resulted in sweeping up these sea turtles and drowning them. They are also increasingly consuming plastic waste in the ocean.
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Info

Endangered right whale's calving season peaks, but no young seen

Russ Bynum
Daily News-Miner
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:01 UTC
In this 2009 file photo, a female right whale swims at the surface of the water with her calf a few miles off the Georgia coast in 2009.
© John CarringtonIn this 2009 file photo, a female right whale swims at the surface of the water with her calf a few miles off the Georgia coast in 2009. Scientists watching for baby right whales off the Southeast U.S. coast have yet to spot a single newborn seven weeks into the endangered species' calving season, a dry spell researchers haven't seen in nearly 30 years.
Scientists watching for baby right whales off the Southeast U.S. coast have yet to spot a single newborn seven weeks into the endangered species' calving season — the longest researchers have gone without any sightings in nearly 30 years.

Bad weather that has limited efforts to look for whales could be to blame, rather than a reproductive slump. But scientists also worry it could point to another low birth year for the imperiled whales after a grim 2017, when 17 confirmed right whale deaths far outpaced a scant five recorded births.

"We basically right now should be at the peak of the season and we haven't seen anything, so that's concerning," said Clay George, a wildlife biologist who oversees right whale surveys for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. "I'm going from being the optimist I normally am to being pretty pessimistic about it."
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Attention

Unusual weather triggered 2015 mass death of quarter million saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan, study says

Ada Carr
The Weather Channel
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 14:11 UTC
Saiga antelope deaths
© JOINT SAIGA HEALTH MONITORING TEAM, KAZAKHSTANSaigas died in large numbers across the Betpak-Dala region of Kazakhstan
Humidity and hot temperatures triggered the deaths of more than 200,000 endangered saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan over the course of three weeks, researchers say.

The May 2015 deaths were caused by hemorrhagic septicemia triggered by a bacteria known as Pasteurella multocida Type B, which dwells in the respiratory tract of the animals, according to a study on the event.

"The animals were in a sort of foggy soup, and it looks like the bacteria naturally occupying the tonsils were woken up by this environmental factor," Royal Veterinary College professor of wildlife health and emerging disease Richard Kock told The Washington Post.

Comment: Strangely enough, no one knows for sure why flu viruses appear in winter. Some say that viruses thrive in low humidity because they remain suspended in the air longer, but humidity can be very high in wintertime in many places. Maybe these bacteria and virii are in our bodies all the time and only activate during certain atmospheric conditions. Maybe some bugs need a 'key' to turn them on? Like some other virus or something in the atmosphere?

See also: Sixth Extinction continues: Mass deaths of Saiga antelope in Kazakhstan caused by bacteria

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Camera

Noctilucent rocket fumes filmed over Okinawa Island, Japan


Space Weather
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 21:34 UTC
Epsilon-3 launch
© Kagaya
On Jan. 18th, the Japanese space agency JAXA launched a small rocket from the Uchinoura Space Center. It made a big display. Japanese artist and photographer Kagaya captured dramatic images of the rocket's exhaust glowing in the starry pre-dawn sky over the Pacific:

"I watched the launch from Okinawa Island and photographed it using my Sony α7RIII camera," says Kagaya, who has posted a must-see video of the event on Youtube.

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Ice Cube

Hundreds evacuated as ice jams cause flooding in USA and Canada (PHOTOS)

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 20:04 UTC
Ice jam on the Saco River in Fryeburg
© Adam EpsteinIce jam on the Saco River in Fryeburg
Ice jams have caused severe problems along some rivers in north eastern USA and eastern Canada since 12 January, 2018. States of emergency have been declared and around 200 people have evacuated their homes and north eastern USA and a further 100 in New Brunswick, Canada.

Heavy rain over the last few days has also caused rivers to overflow and some surface flooding. Two people died in West Virginia when their vehicle was trapped in flood water. Flood rescues were required in Pittsburgh after a major road was flooded.

Ice jams in northeastern USA

Media have reported dozens of ice jams along rivers in north eastern USA. Below is a short summary of some of the floods.

Parts of the Connecticut River near Haddam are so blocked, ice breakers from the US Coast Guard have been called in to break the jam.

Comment: For videos see: Record-cold wave recedes, but now ice jams are causing flooding in US northeast

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Question

Loud explosion in southern Wisconsin rattles homes, 'knocks things off walls'

Jake Magee
GazetteXtra
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 20:11 UTC
Mystery boom in WI
© Angela Major
Law enforcement officials Thursday afternoon were investigating an explosion in a field north of Janesville that was linked to a noise dozens of residents reported hearing Thursday morning.

Leon Brown, who lives next to the property where the explosion occurred, said a vehicle exploded around 9:30 a.m. Photos taken at the scene show the remains of what appears to be an obliterated vehicle.

Rock County 911 Communications Center Director Kathy Sukus said officials were investigating the incident in connection with the explosion noise and shaking houses in Janesville, Milton and Edgerton reported earlier.

Reporters at the scene Thursday afternoon saw several law enforcement officials and vehicles in a field north of the intersection of North Kennedy and East Manogue roads. A lone law enforcement vehicle with a trailer was spotted several dozen yards southwest of the officials.
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Ice Cube

Temperatures have dropped to -91°C (-131,8°F) in the stratosphere!


SciencePost
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 19:36 UTC
upper sky and clouds
Over the last few days, and especially on Saturday, extremely cold temperatures have been recorded in the stratosphere. As a reminder, the stratosphere is a layer of the atmosphere located between 10 and 50 km above sea level.

During the day of January 13, the temperature reached -91°C (-131,8°F) locally at about 25 km above the Barents Sea in northern Scandinavia.

These extremely cold temperatures for the season are associated with a very powerful cyclonic vortex, also known as the polar vortex and centred not far from the North Pole. Because of its power, cold air remains confined over the Arctic regions at very high altitudes and is not attenuated or driven away by any external forcing.

earth cold
© Université de BerlinOverall situation on January 13 2018 (temperature and geopotential at 30 hpa, i. e. about 23 km from alt)
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