Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

At least 14 people dead as flash floods wreak havoc in northeastern states of India


The Indian Express
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 18:39 UTC
Children on a makeshift raft make their way through a flood waterlogged road in Guwahati.
© APChildren on a makeshift raft make their way through a flood waterlogged road in Guwahati.
At least 14 people are feared dead and several others reportedly missing as heavy rainfall continues to lash northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram and parts of Assam for the third day in a row. Incessant rain in the last 48 hours has triggered flash floods in many places along river banks in Manipur. The torrential rain has resulted in submerging of many low-lying areas in the Imphal valley, including Chief Minister Biren Singh's constituency Heingang.

At present, water levels in Imphal river and Nambuk river are dangerously high and are overflowing. Several houses in Kangpokpi district were vacated because of the flood-like situation according to Assam Tribune. The villages in Senapati district also lost connectivity after the roads were washed away in floods.

Water has also flooded some portions of the National Highway that connect Nagaland and Manipur to Assam. Vehicular movement has been stopped on the highway as of now. Rain has also destroyed standing crops in many places. As a result, prices of basic commodities like food and water have seen a surge.

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Bizarro Earth

It's our home now! Swarm of honeybees take over car in Hull, UK and they don't want to leave

Signe Dean
Science Alert
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 18:43 UTC
Bees takeover car Hull UK
© Hull Daily MailIt's our home now!

The last thing you want to find coming home on a Sunday afternoon is a swarm of some 20,000 bees covering your car. But that's exactly what happened to Shirley Taylor from Hull, UK just this weekend.

The whole block went into involuntary lockdown as the swarm of bees literally took over the bonnet of Taylor's car, and stung several people in the process. But bees are really precious insects, so all they could do was steer clear and call the local beekeepers to the rescue.

Swarming is a seasonal process that honeybees go through when their existing colony becomes too large, and a new queen bee leaves it with a huge group of worker bees in tow. The swarm picks an interim spot to hang out for a few hours and sends out scout bees to look for a suitable new home, typically a tree cavity.

It's a dangerous process for bee swarms to be travelling out in the open in search of a new nest. They can't pack a lunch and have to subsist on whatever honey and nectar they've gobbled down in preparation for the trip - if they don't find a new home in time, the whole swarm can even starve.
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Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Extremely rare Elegant tern from North America turns up in Pagham Harbour, UK


Bognor Regis Observer
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 18:13 UTC
Elegant Tern (above and Sandwich Tern below)
© Baz ScampionElegant Tern (above and Sandwich Tern below)
Thousands of bird watchers have been descending on Pagham Harbour to catch a glimpse of a rare North American visitor.

A single elegant tern has been delighting visitors to Church Norton since it 'terned up' on Saturday.

The elegant tern is a near threatened species and its arrival at the RSPB Nature Reserve is believed to be the first ever sighting in the UK.

So far more than 2,500 people have been to see it.

"Our staff and volunteers have completed a lot of improvement works to tern habitats at the reserve in the last few years," said Roy Newnham, visitor experience officer at the RSPB's Pagham Harbour.

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Eagle

Symbolic? Second bald eagle crashes into Chicago building in 2 weeks

Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas and Elyssa Cherney
Chicago Tribune
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 17:27 UTC
The fallen
The fallen
Wildlife rescuers are hoping for a better outcome for a bald eagle found injured downtown late Monday, the second of two bald eagles found injured near the Lake Michigan shoreline in as many weeks. The first bird died.

A 1-year-old female bald eagle is believed to have flown into the Sofitel Hotel, 20 E. Chestnut St., Monday night. The hotel's general manager said one of his employees called police and Chicago Animal Care and Control to ensure the health of the animal and the safety of hotel guests and staff.

Birds flying into Chicago buildings are common enough that the volunteer group Chicago Bird Collision Monitors was founded in 2003, but the group's director, Annette Prince said she hasn't heard of an eagle striking a city building since that same year.

Tuesday morning, the young eagle was taken to Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation in Barrington, which cares for about 3,400 animals a year - about 2,800 of them birds - said that group's founder, Dawn Keller, who was also surprised by the incident.
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Bizarro Earth

Powerful eruption of Sheveluch volcano sends ash to 12 km (39,360 feet)


The Watchers
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 17:40 UTC
Sheveluch volcano june 2017
© KVERT, IVS FEB RASAsh cloud at 20:40 UTC on June 14, 2017. A large content of ash particles is noted in red color.
A major eruption started at Russia's Sheveluch volcano at 16:20 UTC on June 14, 2017. KVERT reports a plume of ash reached a height of 12 km (39 360 feet) above sea level and warned explosions up to 15 km (49 200 feet) could occur at any time. The Aviation Color Code was raised from Orange to Red.

At 19:00 UTC, vast ash cloud (140 x 60 km / 87 x 37 miles) from the eruption was observed about 64 km (40 miles) to the southwest and 76 km (47 miles) to the northwest from the volcano, KVERT said at 19:32 UTC. By 20:20 UTC, ash cloud grew to 196 x 223 km (122 x 138 miles). Front of ash cloud with a large content of ash particles (67 x 54 km / 41 x 33 miles) was observed about 96 km (59 miles) north-northwest of the volcano, but the other front of ash cloud was 118 km (73 miles) southwest of the volcano.

By 22:30 UTC, ash cloud grew to 422 x 155 km (262 x 96 miles / 36 000 km2 / 13 900 mi2). Ash cloud with a large content of ash particles (84 x 55 km / 52 x 34 miles) was observed 131 km (81 miles) to the north-northeast. A general front of the largest ash cloud was observed 225 km (140 miles) to the northeast, and the other about 194 km (120 miles) to the southwest. By 06:00 UTC, the front of first ash plume was about 640 km (398 miles) to the ENE of the volcano, while the front of the second ash plume was about 294 km (182 miles) SW.

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Wolf

Baby attacked by dog in Pueblo, Colorado; 2nd attack within a week


kktv.com
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 17:16 UTC
dog attack
A 1 1/2-year-old baby boy who was attacked by a dog will have surgery Wednesday, according to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region.

The attack happened just before 6 p.m. Tuesday in the 2400 block of Winnipeg Street in Pueblo.

The Pueblo Police Department, Animal Law Enforcement and Pueblo Animal Services Division all responded to the attack.

According to the father of the boy, his son was in the living room with the family's dog. Someone knocked on the door while the father was in the kitchen. At that time, the father says he heard barking and growling from the dog in the living room.

The dad went into the living room and found the dog attacking his son. He was able to get the boy outside and scream for help. The Humane Society says a neighbor called 911 to help the family.
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Seismograph

Shallow earthquake of Magnitude 5.9 hits Kermadec Islands


EMSC
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 13:31 UTC
graph
Magnitude: 5.9

Region: Kermadec Islands, New Zealand

Date: 2017-06-15

Time: 00:26:14.8 UTC

Location: 30.66 S; 177.91 W

Depth: 20 km

Distances: 1090 km S of Nuku'alofa, Tonga / pop: 22,400 / local time: 13:26:14.8 2017-06-15
916 km NE of Whangarei, New Zealand / pop: 50,900 / local time: 12:26:14.8 2017-06-15

Source parameters reviewed by a seismologist
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Blue Planet

'Plankton explosion' turns Istanbul's Bosphorus turquoise


The Guardian (UK)
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 14:35 UTC
Bosphorus strait phytoplankton
© Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Bosphorus strait in Istanbul has turned turquoise due to phytoplankton.

Transformation of the usually blue waters of the Bosphorus is not caused by pollution, say scientists

A sudden change in the colour of the Bosphorus Strait that divides the continents of Europe and Asia in Turkey's largest city Istanbul has surprised residents, with scientists putting it down to a surge in a species of plankton across the Black Sea.

The sudden transformation of the usually blue waters of the Bosphorus to a milky turquoise since the weekend had alarmed some residents.

Some took to social media to express fears that there had been a pollution spill while others even suggested it could be linked to an earthquake that rocked the Aegean region on Monday afternoon.

But scientists said there was no mystery behind the colour change, which was accompanied by a sharper smell.

Ahmet Cemal Saydam, professor of environmental science at Hacettepe University, told the Dogan news agency that the cause was a surge in numbers of the micro-organism Emiliania huxleyi, also known as Ehux.

"This has nothing to do with pollution," he said, adding it was particularly good for the numbers of anchovies, a popular supper in Istanbul.

Comment: Plankton growing rapidly in ocean seen as sign of carbon dioxide loading

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Tornado2

Mini tornado throws tents around at festival in Pouch, Germany

Ben Hooper
UPI
Tue, 13 Jun 2017 21:51 UTC
tents in air
Revelers at a German music festival were sent scrambling to secure their belongings when a mini tornado abruptly formed and started throwing their tents around.

A video recorded earlier this month at the Sputnik Spring Break Festival in Pouch, Germany, shows what happened when a whirlwind formed in a camping area at the festival.

The mini tornado throws tents and canopies around, with at least one tent flying off high into the sky.

Witnesses said no one was injured in the June 2 incident.

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Cloud Precipitation

100,000 evacuated as Typhoon Merbok hits Shenzhen, China


APA
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 21:31 UTC
Floodwater
Torrential rain continued Tuesday in Shenzhen after Typhoon Merbok made landfall in the city Monday night, and more than 100,000 people had been evacuated to safety by Tuesday morning, APA reports quoting Sputnik.

From Monday morning to Tuesday morning, the city reported average precipitation of 81 mm (3.2 inches), with 219 mm (8.6 inches) reported in the region where the typhoon landed, the city's flood control and drought relief headquarters said.

Those evacuated include people who work outdoors and many living in old and at-risk houses and prefabricated structures.


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