Earth ChangesS


Ambulance

Rescue helicopter crashes killing eight on way to evacuate people from Indonesian volcano after sudden eruption

Sileri Crater erupts
© AP Photo/Dwiana Jati SetiajiSmoke billows from Sileri Crater after it erupted in Dieng, Central Java, Indonesia, on July 2, 2017. The crater at Dieng Plateau spewed cold lava, mud and ash as high as 164 feet into the sky when it erupted, injuring number at least 10 people.
A rescue helicopter has crashed as it went to help evacuate residents near an active volcano in Indonesia.

All eight people on board were killed and at least 10 on the ground were injured when the Sileri Crater at Dieng Plateau spewed cold lava, mud and ash as high as 164 feet into the sky when it erupted on Sunday.

The aircraft went down about three minutes before arriving at the popular tourist area.

It reportedly hit a cliff on Butak Mountain in the Temanggung district of Central Java province.

Brigadier General Ivan Tito, director of operation and training at the search agency, said the victims were four navy officers and four rescuers.

He said the Indonesian-made Dauphin AS365 helicopter was airworthy.

The sudden eruption occurred while about 17 visitors were around the crater.

Attention

Frosts increase with solar minimum: Thus it begins

Back in late April, European wine growers were hit by the most damaging frost since 1991. That frost affected vines as far south as Tuscany. More recently it is the western Corn Belt that has been affected by late Spring frost. The following two figures show damage to crops from frosts a few days ago:

Figure 1: Chickpea crop in Saskatchewan just north of the Montana border, 27th June 2017, yellow is frost-killed dead plant material.
yellow field
© Mike FoleyYellow is frost-killed dead plant material.
Figure 2: Frozen corn just east of McLaughlin, South Dakota, 27th June, 2017
frozen corn
© Joel Bierman

Attention

Shotgun-toting 11yo boy kills attacking bear to save family in Alaska

Brown bear
© Patrick Pleul / Global Look Press
An 11-year-old boy toting a shotgun saved three members of his family from a charging brown bear in Alaska.

Elliot Clark was returning from a fishing trip with his uncle, great-uncle, and cousin when the animal appeared from the woods near Game Creek in Port Frederick on Chichagof Island.

"There was four of them in a line... my son was third," Lucas Clark, Elliot's father, told the Juneau Empire. "The bear came down the trail at them, fella in the front, who was his uncle, the bear was on him so quickly that he didn't have time to take his rifle off his shoulder."

Comment: See also:


Snowflake

Snowstorms in June affect races in Canada and Colorado

dig out
In June 2017, there were two regoinal races hampered by unusual blizzards and heavy late season snow. The Yukon Relay in Canada and the Leadville Trail Marathon. Only one team even crossed the finish line in the Yukon race and they were uni-cyclists, and the Leadville event organizers were digging through seven foot deep snow drifts to create a trail. Events like these will become more common as the Grand Solar Minimum progresses into 2018-2019, which will affect crop yields and in turn drive up food prices. Th economy will suffer as disposable income is spent on food not retail or travel.


Sources

Attention

5 killed,19 injured in mudslide after torrential rain in Hunan, China

Representational Image/ AP
© APRepresentational image
Four others remain missing in the mudslide, which had hit Zuta village, Ningxiang County on Saturday due to heavy rains

At least five persons have been killed and 19 others injured in a mudslide in China's southern Hunan province that witnessed severe flooding after torrential rains over the last 10 days. Four others remain missing in the mudslide, which had hit Zuta village, Ningxiang County on Saturday due to heavy rains.

Several parts of the county received over 200 mm of precipitation within 24 hours, with flooding disrupting traffic and telecommunications and raising water levels in reservoirs and rivers above warning levels. A rescue and search operation is underway, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Last week 15 people were killed and 73 others were listed missing in Xinmo village in Maoxian County in the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba. Hunan has experienced severe flooding after torrential rains over the last 10 days. Since June 22, flooding has inundated parts of several cities, forced 311,300 people to evacuate, damaged 295,160 hectares of crops and destroyed 6,369 houses.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 5, injures 4 others in Bangladesh

lightning
Five people have been killed in a village in Kushtia after lightning struck them.

The incident has been reported from Mirpur Upazila of the western district on Sunday afternoon, said police.

Four others including a woman, injured in the lightning, have been hospitalised, Police Inspector Rafiqul Islam told bdnews24.com.

The lightning struck around 1:30pm when the victims were working at a crop field. Five of them died on the spot, he said.

Comment: Elsewhere in Asia recently a woman was killed by lightning in Nepal.


Attention

Teenager bitten by shark off Hilton Head, South Carolina

Shark attacks
A teen from Ohio had a terrifying encounter with a shark earlier this month while boogie boarding in South Carolina.

Reagan Readnour, 14, was on vacation in Hilton Head when she was bitten by a shark twice, the Island Packet reported.

The teen said that she was boogie boarding at the beach with her family when she felt something tug at her leg.

"I thought it was my brother messing with me when I felt something grab at my leg," Readonor told the Island Packet on Friday. "I felt a terrible sting and didn't know what it was."

Readonor only realized that she had been attacked after her brother saw blood.



Attention

Latest round of mass animal die-offs around the planet last week

Thousands of dead fish in Turkey.
Thousands of dead fish in Turkey.
28th June 2017 Libtard Digital reported- Thousands of dead fish found in a river in Copan, Honduras

Villagers from the community of Azacualpa, La Union, Copán, sent images showing that thousands of fish have been found dead in the Lara River due to contamination of mining activities of Minerales de Occidente (MINOSA), a subsidiary of mining company Aura Minerals ).

27th June 2017 2WRGZ.com reports - Dozens of dead seaguls found washed up on a beach in Buffalo, America

BUFFALO, NY - It was an unpleasant sight Tuesday, as a number of dead seagulls were found washed ashore Gallagher Beach in Buffalo.

27th June 2017 El Dia De Cordoba reports - 4.5 TONS of fish dead due to pollution in the Guadalquivir river in Spain.

Ice Cube

Exceptional hailstorm hits Girona, Spain (VIDEOS)

Girona hailstorm
© Marc MartíClearing up after intense hail hit Spain's city of Girona on Friday 30 June.
Torrential rain accompanied by huge amounts of hail hit the city of Girona in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia, on Friday, June 30, 2017.

According to the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC), in just 30 minutes the storm left Girona 53 liters per square meter as reported in El Periódico de Catalunya.

The Mayor of Girona, Marta Madrenas said that the city suffered "a very complicated, unusual situation, as never before had been seen in the city."

He indicated that although there were alerts for intense rainfall and to prepare for some flooding "the sanitation system was unable to absorb all water."


Comment: Some other severe hailstorms from around the world in recent months include: It is likely that atmospheric dust loading from increased comet and volcanic activity is contributing to these 'exceptional' or 'freak' hailstorms, the cooling effect of which causes ice crystals to form.


Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Tropical seabird turns up at Point Pelee, Ontario

The tropical magnificent frigatebird made a rare appearance at Point Pelee, Ont. on Thursday afternoon.
© Kory RenaudThe tropical magnificent frigatebird made a rare appearance at Point Pelee, Ont. on Thursday afternoon.
Joan Walker was at her kitchen table talking to her mother when she shrieked at the rare sight of a massive tropical bird that has only been spotted a handful of times in Ontario.

The magnificent frigatebird, with its six-foot wide wing span, caught her eye because it was being harassed by a dozen or so gulls as it soared outside her home on Pelee Drive on Thursday afternoon.

She immediately jumped from her chair and ran next door to her family's nature store to tell her husband Mike Malone. He quickly snapped several photos to verify the sighting for the rest of the bird-watching world.

"Oh my God, it's a frigatebird," Walker recalled yelling into the phone. "I went running out of the house."