Earth ChangesS


Seismograph

Earthquakes in strange places: Shallow magnitute 5.1 shakes the second largest meteorite crater in the world in Western Australia

map earthquake
An earthquake initially measuring greater than magnitude 5 on the Richter scale has been recorded near the famous Wolfe Creek Crater in Western Australia - the second largest meteorite crater in the world.

According to GeoScience Australia, the quake struck in the extremely remote area of the vast state near Sturt Creek, close to Northern Territory border, around 12.21pm AWST (2.21pm AEST). Preliminary information has the tremor measuring in at a strong magnitude 5.1.

This, however, is likely to be either downgraded or upgraded once all data has been analysed. GeoScience Australia estimates that the quake could have felt by people up to 187km away and could have caused damage within a 15km radius.

Cloud Lightning

Flashback Funnel of cruise ship struck by lightning, bursts into flames in port at Genoa, Italy

ship hit by lightning
There are days when nature simply isn't messing around.

A video has found its way into the collective consciousness of the internet showing a Croisières de France cruise liner being violently struck by lightning and then bursting into flames followed by a billow of thick black smoke.

The video—taken from another cruise ship, the MSC Precioza—is equal parts terrifying and enjoyable to watch numerous times. The fact that it stayed hidden for years after it was filmed is maybe the most amazing part.

It's important to note that the ship was docked. No one was hurt. Things were taken care of immediately, and the ship didn't appear to sustain any lasting damage. The only thing that may have broken was the internet when this video started making the rounds.


Comment: The video was first published on You Tube, Nov 3, 2015


Attention

Zookeeper dies following bear attack at Swedish wildlife park

bear
A 19-year-old zookeeper has died after being attacked by a bear at a wildlife park in northern Sweden.

Police and emergency services were called to Orsa Rovdjurspark at 10:30 on Friday morning after one of the zookeepers was attacked and seriously injured. The man, who was born in 1998, received medical attention at the scene but later died of his injuries.

The CEO of the company that owns the park explained that the attack took place during a special activity for guests, where people get to go into an enclosure with the zookeepers. The enclosure was supposed to be empty, but the bear managed to get in. Police believe it may have dug its way in.

"First and foremost I want to say that this is a difficult day. I'm thinking about my colleague and his family a lot. It started out as a normal day, a family had booked the activity and normal routines were followed. I'll leave it to the police to work out what went wrong," the park's head Sven Brunberg said at a press conference on Friday.

Cloud Precipitation

In pictures: Heavy rainfall causes flooding in southern Sweden

A flooded road in Eslöv, Skåne.
© Johan Nilsson/TTA flooded road in Eslöv, Skåne.
Heavy rainfall in the south of Sweden on Thursday caused flooding as water poured into cellar spaces and blocked roads.

Earlier this week national forecaster SMHI issued a class one weather warning (the least serious on a scale from one to three) for heavy rain in Skåne, noting that there was a risk of stormwater drains overflowing and cellars flooding, and their prediction proved to be accurate.

According to preliminary figures from the forecaster as much as 36 millimetres of rain fell in some parts of Skåne on Thursday.

One video by local newspaper Sydsvenskan showed cars ploughing through deep water on a main road.


Cloud Precipitation

Two dead and nine missing after Typhoon Noru lashes southern Japan

Typhoon Noru
© EPATwo people are already confirmed dead and a further nine are missing after the typhoon smashed Kyushu and surrounding areas
Mainland Japan is bracing itself for Super Typhoon Noru which is fast approaching after already devastating the country's southern islands.

Two people are already confirmed dead and a further nine are missing after the typhoon smashed Kyushu and surrounding areas.

Typhoon Noru registered as the world's strongest storm at one point last week, is threatening up to 800mm of rainfall in the next 48 hours.

It has been a typhoon for 13 days, the longest hurricane-strength typhoon since Hurricane Ioke, the strongest storm ever recorded in the Central-Pacific.

The Amami island chain, located just south of the southwest main island of Kyushu and some 1,350 km (840 miles) from Tokyo, will be hit by high winds and heavy rains from Friday.

The monster storm is easily visible from the International Space Station, with stunning images showing Noru from 250km in the sky.

Bizarro Earth

Swedish factory forced to close after huge sinkhole emerges near the building

Sinkhole Domsjö factory Örnsköldsvik Sweden
© Carl Sundström/SVT Nyheter VästernorrlandThe sinkhole opened up over Sunday night in Örnsköldsvik.
A factory in northern Sweden has been forced to close for the day after a huge sinkhole opened up in the middle of an industrial area on Sunday night.

Workers at the Domsjö factory in Örnsköldsvik raised the alarm on Sunday evening after they noticed a hole emering in the ground near the building. It grew during the night to a substantial size.

"It's about eight metres by eight metres in size. The depth is unknown," Håkan Wiberg, unit head at Örnsköldsvik emergency services told The Local.

Attention

The Gulf of Mexico's 'dead zone' this year is the biggest on record

The Gulf Of Mexico's dead zone
The Gulf Of Mexico's dead zone
Every spring, a "dead zone" appears in the Gulf of Mexico. It happens when the water doesn't have enough oxygen to support fish and other marine life.

And scientists say this year's dead zone is the biggest they've recorded since mapping began in 1985.


The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week that the Gulf dead zone measured in at more than 8,700 square miles — an area roughly the size of New Jersey.

Dead zones can occur naturally. But researchers say the Gulf's problem is mainly caused by nutrient pollution from agriculture.


Cheeseburger

Shrinkflation has started to disguise global food price rises

food
Shrinkflation is a term where the same sized packaging is used but the food weight /contents are reduced. Its the same sized package you grew up with but less inside. This is a backdoor way to hide food price rises. As we head deeper into the grand solar minimum, there will continue to be mounting losses through out the worlds grain belts, this will the way they can fool the public a little bit longer. Word of warning, going forward form this point, you will need to grow your own food to supplement continuously rising food prices.


Sources

Seismograph

Scottish Highlands are rocked by their biggest earthquake for 30 years

The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded the magnitude 3.8 tremor in the Moidart area just before 3.45pm
The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded the magnitude 3.8 tremor in the Moidart area just before 3.45pm
The Scottish Highlands experienced the largest earthquake in three decades yesterday, experts have confirmed.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded the magnitude 3.8 tremor in the Moidart area just before 3.45pm.

It was the biggest earthquake in the region since a magnitude 4.1 quake near Oban in September 1986, officials noted.

On the latest event, the BGS stated: 'This earthquake was felt widely across the west of Scotland.'


People in the area shared their experience of the rumble on Twitter.

One wrote: 'Think I just experienced a minor earthquake, here on Ardnamurchan. West coast of Scotland. Anyone else feel it, my kitchen rumbled.'

Sun

'Lucifer' heatwave bakes Europe causing scientists to predict massive numbers of deaths by 2100

kids playing in water
© Velar Grant / Reuters
Ten southern and central European countries have declared a red alert after heatwave 'Lucifer' caused temperatures to skyrocket over 40C, with scientists warning that the extreme heat could end up killing 152,000 people a year by 2100.

Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia are on red alert, European forecast network Meteoalarm said on Saturday.

Florence's famous Uffizi Gallery was temporarily closed on Friday after the museum's air conditioning system broke down, ANSA news agency reported.

Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, France, Macedonia, Slovakia, and Moldova have issued orange alerts to stress the potential for worsening weather conditions.

At least two people have died from the heat, one in Romania and one in Poland, Reuters reported, adding that many more have been taken to the hospital for sunstroke.

"In two hours of my shift today I saw four people fainting on the street and complaining of heat exhaustion," a traffic warden told Reuters in Belgrade.