Earth ChangesS


Attention

Surge of vicious raccoon attacks on people in the United States


World Net Daily
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 13:00 UTC
Raccoon
Raccoon
Gina Chiarelli and her dog, an 11-year-old Maltese named Rocky, had just stepped onto the grass in the backyard of her east Vancouver home earlier this month when a raccoon charged at the pair and sank its teeth into Rocky's head.

"We were there maybe four seconds, and all of a sudden," she said, "a huge raccoon, bigger than my dog, came flying out from under the deck and grabbed my dog by his head with his jaws

She could not separate the raccoon from Rocky's head for several minutes. But once the raccoon finally opened its mouth, in an instant, it began attacking Chiarelli - viciously biting her, scratching, locking on to the back of her legs. The attack went on for 15 minutes.

"It was like a whirling dervish just attacking me relentlessly," she said. "There was blood all across the deck and all over the house. My pants were just soaked in blood, big huge holes in them. I seriously thought that animal was going to kill me. I really, really thought that he was going to kill me."

It may be one of the more dramatic and violent raccoon attacks of the last several months, but it's hardly an isolated incident. It's just one of dozens reported nationwide in states including Virginia, Maine, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Louisiana, Florida and New Jersey.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 2 farmers in Bangladesh


en.prothom-alo.com
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 12:40 UTC
lightning
Two farmers were killed and another was injured as they were hit by a lightning strike at Horihora village in Shailakupa upazila in Jhenaidah on Friday, reports UNB.

The deceased were identified as Ratan Mandal, 35, son of late Mohon Mandal, and Waz Mandal, 55, son of late Mansur Mandal, of the village while the injured was Akidul Mandal, son of slain Waz Mandal.

Officer-in-Charge of Shailkupa police station Alamgir Hossain said Ratan and Waz died on the spot and Akidul suffered injuries as a thunderbolt struck them around 8:30am while they were immersing jute plants in water bodies for rotting.

Akidul was first taken to Shailakupa Upazila Health Complex and later shifted to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital from where he was referred to Faridpur Medical College Hospital as his condition was deteriorated.
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Water

Scientists confirm the existence of second garbage patch in the Pacific ocean

Katherine Lindemann
Research Gate
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:32 UTC
Charles Moore aboard a research vessel.
Charles Moore aboard a research vessel.
The South Pacific patch may be as big as a million square miles, 1.5 times the size of Texas.

A team of scientists has confirmed the existence of another ocean garbage patch, this time in a remote area of the South Pacific. Unlike the famous patch in the northern Pacific Ocean, which has long been one of the world's most recognizable symbols of pollution, the new patch is in an area that had previously been largely unstudied.

The high degree of plastic pollution was uncovered by captain Charles Moore and his team of volunteer researchers on a six-month voyage: "We discovered tremendous quantities of plastic. My initial impression is that our samples compared to what we were seeing in the North Pacific in 2007, so it's about ten years behind," said Moore, who has worked to raise awareness about plastic pollution since he stumbled across the North Pacific patch while captaining a racing yacht in the 1990s. Moore says the southern patch could be as big as a million square kilometers, 1.5 times the size of Texas.
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Attention

Shark bites woman off the Florida Keys

Gwen Filosa
Miami Herald
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 12:17 UTC
Shark attacks
A 40-year-old woman was airlifted to a Miami hospital after she was reportedly bitten by a small shark Saturday near Snipe Point offshore Key West, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard Sector Key West received a call from a good Samaritan at 12:37 p.m. Saturday, reporting the incident and the location of the victim.

A 33-foot boat crew from Coast Guard Station Key West arrived on the scene.

The woman and her husband were taken to the station, where she was transferred to awaiting emergency medical services in good condition, the Coast Guard said.

Monroe County Sheriff's Office Deputy Becky Herrin said the woman was injured on her foot.
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Radar

Eight tropical cyclones spinning simultaneously in the north Pacific Ocean for first time since 1974

Jon Erdman
The Weather Channel
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 08:00 UTC
four simultaneous tropical cyclones in Pacific Ocean
© Weather.comSatellite image of the east and central Pacific from July 22, 2017 with four simultaneous tropical cyclones.
The north Pacific Ocean pulled off an impressive feat with eight tropical cyclones spinning at one time Saturday, July 22, something that hasn't been accomplished in more than four decades.

In the central and eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday were two named storms, Fernanda and Greg, along with Tropical Depression Nine-E and Tropical Depression Ten-E. The two tropical depressions eventually went on to become Hilary and Irwin.

Meanwhile, the western Pacific Ocean had Noru, Kulap, Roke and Tropical Depression Eight-W all spinning in parts of that basin. Tropical Depression Eight-W would later become Tropical Storm Sonca.

Although it's not unheard of to see multiple tropical cyclones at the same time, this is impressive on any scale.

Eight tropical cyclones have not roamed the north Pacific Ocean simultaneously since 1974, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University.

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Cloud Precipitation

Evacuation orders and advisories to 120,000 after record-breaking rain hits Akita, Japan


The Japan Times
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 12:52 UTC
Floods in Akita, Japan
© KYODOA man rides his bicycle through floodwaters in the city of Akita on Sunday.
Roughly 120,000 Akita Prefecture residents were ordered or advised to evacuate on Sunday as the risk of flooding and landslides rose following torrential rain in Tohoku, authorities said.

No injuries have been reported so far.

On Sunday afternoon, the Meteorological Agency warned of more flooding as an active rain front that brought record rainfall to parts of Akita decided to park itself over the Tohoku region.

The cities of Yurihonjo, Daisen and Senboku, as well as the town of Misato, collectively ordered 24,000 residents to evacuate after it was reported that houses had been flooded and landslides had struck various parts of Akita, local officials said.

Another 96,000 people in six cities and three towns in the prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan were issued evacuation advisories and urged to prepare for floods and landslides, the officials said.

The storm caused flooding along stretches of the Omono River, while several other rivers were deemed at risk of overflowing their banks.


Comment: Earlier this month floods in Japan killed 20 people after 'unprecedented' rainfall.

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Bizarro Earth

Rome faces water rationing as city bans pumping water from drought-hit Lake Bracciano

Crispian Balmer
Reuters
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 09:06 UTC
Lake Bracciano Italy drought
Authorities have ordered a halt to pumping water out of a lake near Rome following a prolonged drought, a decision that could force city officials to impose water rationing in the Italian capital.

The head of the local Lazio region, which is centered on Rome, said on Saturday the ban on withdrawing water from Lake Bracciano would come into force on July 28.

"Sadly, it is a tragedy," Nicola Zingaretti told Tgcom24 TV station. "The truth is Lake Bracciano has fallen too much and we risk an environmental disaster."

Acea, the utility firm which runs Rome's water system, has said that two years of lower-than-average rainfall have dramatically reduced water levels in reservoirs feeding the city, with a prolonged, ongoing heat wave making matters worse.

Comment: Rome water fountains run dry as heat wave sparks 'exceptional' drought across Italy

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Newspaper

City warns 'aggressive' squirrel that's gnawed on five people in Brooklyn park may have rabies

Andrew Keshner
New York Daily News
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 20:55 UTC

Call this squirrel Rocky - and stay away.

The city Health Department is putting out the warning on an "unusually aggressive squirrel" in Brooklyn's Prospect Park that's attacked and bitten five people.

Though squirrels rarely have rabies, city health officials are assuming this one does.
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Snowflake

Snowballs in July? St. Petersburg covered with piles of 'snow' after heavy hailstorm


RT
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 09:25 UTC
st petersburg hail
© sergeypovoroznyuk / Instagram
Fancy throwing snowballs in summer or going barefoot and T-shirt-clad during a 'snowfall' in July? This weekend in St. Petersburg, Russia would have been perfect after a heavy hailstorm hit the city.

On Saturday, streets in St. Petersburg were covered with piles of snow and the roads resembled winter rivers. City residents took to social media to share the unusual summer scenery.

Just last month, Moscow also fell victim to the whims of nature when snow fell upon the Russian capital just as summer was beginning.

The miserable luck with the weather didn't end there as heavy rain hit the city over and over again, while temperatures remain below normal for this time of year.


Comment: Some extreme weather has hit Moscow recently. See also:

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Cloud Lightning

Damaging storms leave nearly 100,000 people without power in the Kansas City area

Robert A. Cronkleton
Kansas City Star
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 08:18 UTC
kansas city storms
© 2017 Scripps Media, Inc
Nearly 100,000 people woke up without power Sunday morning after severe storms swept through the Kansas City area overnight, downing trees and power lines. Some outages are expected to stretch into Monday amid potentially dangerous heat.

Widespread power outages were being reported across the Kansas City area after winds from the storms reached 70 mph and produced heavy lightning.

Kansas City Power & Light reported on Facebook that as many as 112,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm. Overnight, it assessed the total impact of the damage and called in all available crews to restore power.

By 8:30 a.m. Sunday, about 71,000 customers remained without power. KCP&L said it expected outages to continue into Monday.

"This will be a multi-day restoration," said Jeremy McNeive, manager of media communications for KCP&L.

"Right now it looks like the bulk of it seems to be downed wires and poles," he said. "We have around 180 linemen and contractors. We've reached out to neighboring for assistance so we expect to have more in the field here in the next few hours."

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