Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Spring snow hits Serbia (PHOTOS)


B92
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:05 UTC
snow
Snow in Serbia
Tow trucks and trucks with trailers were banned on Mt. Zlatibor overnight due to the snow on the roads, Putevi Srbije (Roads of Serbia) announced.

The public company said on Wednesday morning that the ban had been lifted, but advised drivers to adjust the speed of their vehicles to the conditions on the roads.

Traffic was also suspended during the night on several other roads in western Serbia.

More snow, forming a 10 to 30 centimeter cover, is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday on mountains, and hills above 800 meters above sea level.
Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Following spring weather, Slovakia faces record cold and snow


The Slovak Spectator
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 13:51 UTC
Snowfall hit also the Donovaly resort on April 18.
© Ján Krošlák Snowfall hit also the Donovaly resort on April 18
March and the first half of April were warm and mild but during Easter a cold spell began that took temperatures closer to the long term average.

It has also brought ground frost during the nights and snow cover in higher altitude and colder regions.

Starting on April 17, the Slovak Hydrometeorological Office (SHMÚ) issued several warnings, with the weather coming closer to winter than to mid-spring.

Cold air has moved to the territory of Slovakia from northern Europe and from April 19 on, Arctic ice-cold air will be influencing the situation here. It will transform quickly in lower geographical latitudes - under the influence of the overall spring conditions. Still, the temperature drop will not be short term, as the whole of Europe will be flooded with cold air.
Read More...
Arrow Down

Massive sinkhole opens up behind retirement home in Pinole, California

Devin Fehely
sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:37 UTC
sinkhole
An enormous sinkhole has opened up on a street in Pinole and is threatening a large retirement community.

The wet weather has exacerbated a shifting soil condition behind the Bay Park Retirement Community on the 2600 block of Appian Way

"You could actually stand three people up in the hole," said Bay Park resident Sylvia Gott.

Gott has watched for weeks now as the sinkhole which has swallowed the access road behind the building has grown to about 50 feet wide.

"I'm very concerned about it," said Gott. "I'm glad they brought in the generator so quickly because we've been on generator power basically the whole time."

Read More...
Attention

White-nose syndrome takes heavy toll on northern long-eared bats in Missouri

Ida Sophie Winter
The Columbia Missourian
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:16 UTC
Northern long-eared bat
© Jeanette BaileyNorthern long-eared bat
A winter survey of Missouri caves found an alarming decline in the population of a bat species once common across the state.

Surveys of more than 300 caves and mines earlier this winter found a total of seven northern long-eared bats, Shelly Colatskie, a cave ecologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said.

The species' decline accelerated in the past two years. Surveys of 375 caves and mines in 2015 found 2,684 northern long-eared bats.

Shauna Marquardt, a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Columbia, said the bats were absent this winter in numerous caves where they'd been seen before because of white-nose syndrome. The northern long-eared bat is especially vulnerable to the disease that has ravaged bat populations in parts of the United States.

Comment: See also: All but 23 of 10,000 bats in Durham, Pennsylvania bat mine have died

White nose syndrome: the mysterious bat fungus that threatens entire species, everyone else

US: A race to solve mystery of bat-killing fungus

Read More...
Black Cat

Mountain lion snatches dog from inside house in Pescadero, California

Kalin Kipling
The Sacramento Bee
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 12:28 UTC
A cougar
© DreamstimeA cougar
A Pescadero family had a very rude awakening early Monday morning when a mountain lion came into their home and took the dog.

A woman reported that she and her child were sleeping in a bedroom with their 15 lb. Portuguese Podengo at the foot of the bed and the dog started barking aggressively at 3 a.m., according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

They had left the French doors slightly ajar to give the dog outside access, and the woman saw the shadow of an animal enter the room, take the small dog from the bed and leave, deputies reported. Upon searching for the dog with a flashlight, the woman found large wet paw prints at the bedroom's entrance and immediately called 911.

Deputies combing the area found paw prints similar to a mountain lion and notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Read More...
Fish

'Blue tide' of countless jellyfish-like creatures wash ashore in Oregon

Jamie Hale
The Oregonian
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:18 UTC
Bluish Velella velella sea creatures have washed up by the thousands on Oregon beaches in recent days, including at Seaside and near Fort Stevens.
© Tiffany Boothe / Seaside AquariumBluish Velella velella sea creatures have washed up by the thousands on Oregon beaches in recent days, including at Seaside and near Fort Stevens.
A stroll along the Oregon coast just got a lot more... blue.

Countless jelly-like sea creatures called by-the-wind sailors have once again washed ashore in Oregon, creating what some call a "blue tide" at beaches along the coastline.

Formally known as Velella velella, the tiny gelatinous creatures have a tendency to get stranded in innumerable heaps along the coast, driven ashore by strong summer and spring winds. As the name suggests, by-the-wind sailors utilize clear, triangular sails to travel across the surface of the ocean, drifting where the breeze takes them.

Read More...
Black Cat

Leopard wanders into village in India, mauling boy and forest ranger

Dinesh Dubey
Daily Mail
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 20:34 UTC
People scatter as the leopard runs towards a crowd of villagers
People scatter as the leopard runs towards a crowd of villagers
A leopard strayed into a village in India and attacked a boy and a forest ranger before officials were able to tranquillise it and lock it up in a cage.

The boy, Milan Rana, and forest ranger Bijay Khuntia were attacked in Bolangir district in the state of Orissa.

Another man, Satyajit Kundakel, suffered minor injuries when he jumped off the roof of a house in a bid to save himself from the marauding leopard.

After a rescue operation which lasted 12 hours the leopard was captured, caged and taken away.

The animal first appeared in the village in the early hours of Monday morning, when it sneaked inside the house of a villager, Aniruddh Rana.

Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Thousands evacuated as severe floods hit Kazakhstan


Sott.net
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 07:57 UTC
Kazakhstan floods
© Rushan BarayevFlooding in Karaganda Oblast, Kazakhstan
Floods are wreaking havoc across parts of Kazakhstan as authorities are forced to evacuate dozens of settlements. Tengrinews, citing the Karaganda Oblast's Department of Emergency Situations, reports that 1,760 houses have been flooded in 35 villages with 340 livestock having been drowned.

In February this year heavy snow and blizzards hit Kazakhstan forcing some residents to dig tunnels to escape their buried houses. Sharp rises in temperatures recently have intensified the melting of snow and caused widespread flooding.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, Vladimir Bozhko, sought to dispel rumors that the floods in Kazakhstan came as a surprise this year. At a press conference in Astana on April 15, he said that the forecast of Kazhydromet (National Hydrometeorological Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan) made in February suggested that the amount of autumn moisture and winter snow exceeded the normal amount by 30-40 percent in Akmola, Karaganda, North Kazakhstan and Kostanai Oblasts.

Bozhko explained that 11,172 people had been evacuated from danger zones in advance, with 25 people rescued from rooftops. More than 36,000 heads of livestock were driven away from the endangered settlements to higher ground. The danger of flooding still remains high.

A YouTube video shows 15 children being rescued after their school bus was trapped in rising flood waters.
Read More...
Ice Cube

Europe's mini ice age: Is it beginning again?

Adapt 2030
YouTube
Mon, 17 Apr 2017 07:31 UTC
Signs of mini ice age in Europe
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
Combining the reports of "Link Found Between Cold European Winters And Solar Activity (+) The Great Frost, Devastated Europe from Italy to Iceland this shows that with the fall in solar activity we should see the Rhine River in Germany begin to freeze and late season snows and early season snows. Now fit in declining TSI and decreasing solar wind pressure and we have the conditions for a mini ice age in Europe, but are there signs? Let's Look at the snows and record cloud this week in Europe.


Comment: See also:

Read More...
Ice Cube

Towering iceberg stationed off Newfoundland's east coast


Toronto Sun
Mon, 17 Apr 2017 12:18 UTC
Ferryland iceberg
© Reuters
A towering iceberg stationed off Newfoundland's east coast is drawing dozens of people to the small shoreline community sitting in its shadow.

The massive iceberg has become a star attraction in Ferryland, where cars were backed up bumper to bumper Sunday as curious onlookers tried to get a glimpse of it.

Ferryland Mayor Adrian Kavanagh says the numbers took him by surprise, adding that the "onslaught" showed that people are interested "in that kind of stuff."

Pictures of the iceberg have been making the rounds on social media.

Now, Kavanagh says he has to find a way to keep the iceberg there.

It's been a busy season for icebergs so far, with 616 already having moved into the North Atlantic shipping lanes compared to 687 by the late-September season's end last year.

Comment: Almost 500 icebergs have drifted into North Atlantic Shipping lanes over the last week - six times the average

Read More...