Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Large hailstones storm pound Omaha, Nebraska

Michael O'Connor and Mara Klecker
Omaha World-Herald
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:20 UTC
hail damage
© Ryan Soderlin
People across the Omaha area called insurance agents, roofers and glass repair shops Friday after a hailstorm tore through the region Thursday night.

Rick Gobble spent his Friday morning doing what he called an "odd kind of spring cleaning": vacuuming glass shards from his car and sweeping the remnants of the back windshield from the street.

By the time he heard the "tapping, grainy sound" of hail Thursday night from inside his condo on the corner of Country Club Avenue and Colby Street, it likely already was too late to save his car from damage. Still, Gobble, 53, rushed to get the car into the garage.

When he got to the steps he hesitated, not wanting to run out into what he said looked like it was "raining billiard balls."

When he did step out into the storm, one of those hailstones ripped through his umbrella.

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Attention

U.S. food price rises: Spring wheat up, winter wheat up, pork & beef up

Adapt 2030
YouTube
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 08:43 UTC
US wheat price rise
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
With drought over the Dakotas after a soggy start to the 2017 spring wheat planting season, the crop is in peril of above 70% losses, this was preceded by a 35% loss of winter wheat across the USA. Now Canada is forecasting lowered yields as well. You need to ask yourself where else it is happening planet wide also. These are the types of events that are related to grand solar minimum unstable growing patterns that occur every mini ice age. Prices will rise further from this point, and if the same pattern repeats next year, food prices will more than double.


Comment: 2017: The year that food becomes an investment - Prepare for a food crisis now

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Seismograph

Shallow 4.8 magnitude earthquake off Norway coast


Earthquake Track
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 08:26 UTC
norway map
4.8 magnitude earthquake 194 km from Åkrehamn, Rogaland, Norway

2017-06-30 13:33:44 UTC

USGS page: M 4.8 - 178km WSW of Utsira, Norway
USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist
Reports from the public: 2 people

10 km depth
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Sun

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


RT
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 06:35 UTC
Rome water fountain
© Andrea Ronchini / Global Look Press
Rome's traditional water fountains will be shut off for the first time in more than 140 years as a punishing heat wave continues to affect much of Italy.

The fountains - nicknamed 'nasoni,' or big noses for their long nozzles - are a source of relief for residents and tourists alike during the hot summer months, continuously dispensing water on piazzas and street corners.

The water, which is drawn from the volcanic Lake Bracciano to the north of the city, will be stopped Monday.

"We know perfectly well the inconvenience that this will cause, but it is due to the exceptional drought," Paolo Saccani, the head of the utility company that manages the fountains, wrote in a letter to Virginia Raggi, Rome's mayor.

Local authorities are alarmed by the falling level of the lake in recent months - but while the city has laid the blame for the measures on the heat wave, others have highlighted the city's poor plumbing and infrastructure.
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Bizarro Earth

New island appears off US Coast

Helen Coffey
The Independent, UK
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 02:52 UTC
New Island
© chadonkaThere's a new island off the tip of Cape Point.
A new island has appeared off the coast in the US, near North Carolina's Cape Point, attracting adventurous tourists and photographers.

The mile-long sand bank first started appearing in the spring. "It was just a little bump in April," visitor Janice Regan told The Virginian Pilot. She and her grandson Caleb, 11, explored it looking for shells on Memorial Day.

Instagram user chadonka posted an aerial image of the new island, showing just how large the new addition is.
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Seismograph

6.0 earthquake strikes off coast of Ecuador


Associated Press
Sat, 01 Jul 2017 02:28 UTC
Ecuador Earthquake
© Associated Press
A strong earthquake has struck off the coast of Ecuador, sending people running into the streets of the country's major cities. Authorities say there have been no early reports of casualties or serious damage.

The U.S. Geological Service said Friday evening's tremor had a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 and was centered about 30 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Bahia de Caraquez. The quake occurred about 7 kilometers (6 miles) below the Earth's surface.

Shaking was felt more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) away in the port city of Quayaquil and in the capital of Quito.

The quake struck in the same region as a powerful, magnitude 7.8 temblor in April 2016 that caused nearly 700 deaths and $3 billion in damage.
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Fire

Forest fire out of control in Chernobyl exclusion zone


RT
Thu, 29 Jun 2017 16:38 UTC
forestfire
© ScienceAGoGoRadiation damage to microbes around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has dramatically slowed the decomposition of fallen leaves and other plant matter creating a fire hazard due to wind-borne radioactivity.
A forest fire has erupted in the Chernobyl exclusion zone forests during tree cutting works, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. While a helicopter and two planes were dispatched to the site, the fire is still ongoing.
"At 12:35pm [local time] during technological tree cutting works in the exclusion and obligatory evacuation zone at the territory of Lubyanskoye Forestry, tree residue and the forest bed have caught fire. The fire spread out to an area of some 20 hectares," the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a statement.
The emergency service dispatched an Mi-8 helicopter with a water-spraying device and two AN-32P fire planes to the location to provide surveillance and combat the fire. At least 102 firemen and 22 fire engines arrived at the scene, while the Mi-8 dropped water on the fire five times. Despite their efforts, however, the fire even spread somewhat and at 6:29pm local time engulfed 25 hectares of the forest bed, as well as 0.5 hectares of the tree tops, according to the statement.

This is not the first wildfire to break out near the crippled Chernobyl nuclear power station. In 2015, forest and grass fires erupted in the exclusion zone several times with the worst one breaking out in May, when some 400 hectares of forests were engulfed in flames.

Several consecutive fires caused a significant increase in radiation in the exclusion zone. In July 2015, Ukrainian nuclear inspectors registered air contamination with cesium-137 near the settlement of Polesskoye in the Chernobyl zone, or approximately 10 times above permitted levels. Cesium-137 is one of the most dangerous radioactive elements, since it accumulates in the human body and can lead to leukemia.

Comment: According to a research study by the University of South Carolina and the University Paris-Sud in the contaminated area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear facility, results suggest the rate of plant material decomposition changed after the meltdown. Radiated samples showed less leaf weight loss compared to non-radiated leaves, up to 40%, concluding bacteria and fungi are hindered by radioactive contamination. With reduced microbial decomposing activity, the forest brush and plant matter become a dangerous fire hazard with the ability to redistribute radioactive contamination, via smoke, into populated areas. Prior fires have seen plumes reach the US West Coast, crossing the plains and into Eastern Canada.

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Cloud Precipitation

Sky split open: Moscow struck by 'downpour of the century' (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)


RT
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 18:57 UTC
flood Moscow
© nikchuh
Moscow Region has been hit by a powerful storm that brought heavy torrential rains and hail. The capital has not seen such a storm in almost 100 years, according to meteorologists.

"In less than 12 hours the city expects 15-20 mm of rainfall, which is almost a third of the monthly norm. The daily maximum precipitation for June 30 is 22.3 mm, it was marked in 1923," Moscow weather services told TASS, adding that the capital hasn't seen a storm like this in 94 years.

Muscovites were awed by apocalyptically overcast skies just before the storm.


Comment: Just over a month ago Moscow was hit by the worst storm in living memory, and probably the worst since the 19th century. See also:

Updates: Worst ever natural disaster: Death toll from Moscow storm rises to 16 (VIDEOS)

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Question

Wild ducks in Romania are caught eating small birds for the first time

Shivali Best
Daily Mail
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 15:39 UTC
Researchers have captured images of mallard ducks attacking and eating small birds – a behaviour that has never been seen before
Researchers have captured images of mallard ducks attacking and eating small birds – a behaviour that has never been seen before
They're usually thought of as placid creatures, happy to accept pieces of bread thrown into rivers by willing passers-by.

But a shocking new study paints ducks in a very different light.

Researchers have captured images of mallard ducks attacking and eating small birds - a behaviour that has never been seen before.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge caught the bizarre behaviour on camera, while filming mallard ducks on a reservoir in Romania.

Mallards normally eat seeds, acorns, berries, plants and insects, and occasionally eat small fish.

But this is the first time they have ever been seen eating other birds.
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Sun

Temperature in Ahvaz, Iran hits 129F (53.7C) - the hottest in the country's history

Julian Robinson
Daily Mail
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 15:29 UTC
Temperatures in Ahvaz (pictured, in Iran have reached 129F (53.7C) making it the hottest day in the country's history and one of the highest ever in the world
Temperatures in Ahvaz (pictured, in Iran have reached 129F (53.7C) making it the hottest day in the country's history and one of the highest ever in the world
Temperatures in Iran have reached 129F (53.7C) making it the hottest day in the country's history and one of the highest ever in the world.

The scorching conditions were recorded in the city of Ahvaz in Iran's south west on Thursday, according to a French meteorologist.

It was a June record for Asia and came close to the world record 134F (56.6C) measured in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913.

The extreme high temperatures were highlighted by Etienne Kapikian, a meteorologist with the French national weather service Meteo France.
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