Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt obliterates telephone pole in Chicago (VIDEO)

Angela Fritz
The Washington Post
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 19:25 UTC
Telephone pole lightning strike
Telephone pole lightning strike
This is quite possibly the scariest thing about thunderstorms. They don't have to spawn tornadoes, drop softball-size hail or even be particularly strong to be deadly serious.

Case in point, this video.


Anja Englert was driving down Irving Park Road in Chicago on Sunday evening during a torrential downpour. A line of thunderstorms was rolling across northern Illinois. Seemingly out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning comes crashing from the sky and shatters a wooden telephone pole in an explosion of flames and splinters right in front of the camera.

A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect at the time, but the truth is if you're outside during any thunderstorm, you won't get a warning before lightning strikes.

Nineteen people have died from lightning so far this year, and every one of them was preventable. We don't tell people to take shelter in a storm just because of tornadoes or strong winds; you risk being struck by lightning whenever you hear thunder.
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Rose

World's largest flower that survives for just 48 hours blooms in India


Sputnik
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:30 UTC
Amorphophallus titanum or the corpse flower
Amorphophallus titanum or the corpse flower
The world's largest and short lived flower which has life span of only 48 hours has bloomed in the south Indian state of Kerala after nine years.

The southern coastal state of Kerala is the centre of attraction due to a rare flower which has bloomed after nine long years.

People are flocking at the Gurukula Botanical Sancturay at Alattil, near Periya in the north Wayanad in Kerala to get a glimpse of the Amorphophallus titanum or the corpse flower.

Amorphophallus titanum is native to Indonesia's Sumatra region. The flower smells like rotten flesh and survives only for 48 hours.

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Cloud Lightning

Zap: Dramatic moment Empire State Building struck by lightning bolt captured on camera


RT
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 16:51 UTC
Empire State building struck by lightning
© Henrik Moltke / YouTube
New York's iconic Empire State Building was struck by a lightning bolt during an epic electric storm Monday - and cameras caught it all.

Much of the east coast was rocked by thunderstorms bringing all four seasons to the Big Apple in one July afternoon.

On average the Empire State Building takes a lightning hit about 23 times a year. Its part-metal exterior helps to conduct electricity.
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Alarm Clock

Explosion levels Nebraska house, damages adjacent homes; 'it shook the entire neighborhood'


KETV
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 10:41 UTC
Omaha home explosion
© KETV
A woman was killed Monday afternoon when an explosion leveled a north-central Omaha home and damaged several others near 65th and Sprague streets, a release from the Omaha Fire Department said.

She has been identified as Clara Bender, 30. Two others were injured. Investigators are referring to the area as a crime scene, but haven't explained why. The initial call for help came shortly after noon. "It was just like, boom," Dave Minor, who lives in the area, said. "It just rattled everything."
Omaha home explosion
© KETV
Fire Battalion Chief Tim McCaw says paramedics took two women who were in the house to an Omaha hospital. One was in critical condition, and the other was in serious condition. A 14-year-old boy was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital privately. A neighbor who was in a house next to the home that exploded suffered a concussion, cuts and bruises.


Comment: There seems to be an increase in reports of home and buildings exploding. From this year alone: See also: SOTT Exclusive: More mysterious high-rise building explosions - is there a 'cosmic' source of ignition?

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Attention

Extreme weather in South Africa: Snow, flooding and tornadoes cause havoc


Times LIVE
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 08:52 UTC
South Africa flooding
© TrafficSA via Twitter Amamzimtoti, south of Durban was flooded after torrential rains.
From snow to flooding and tornadoes, extreme weather conditions have been playing havoc across the country this week.

KwaZulu-Natal emergency services on Tuesday reported no fatalities following the widespread flooding throughout the province.

Several rescues were performed when cars were washed away due to the flood waters and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) was called to assist police and emergency medical services.

The SA Weather Service has warned of an "extreme, late winter weather system" characterised by snow, bitter cold and strong winds. These conditions are likely to be fatal to people and animals without "adequate shelter".

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Attention

Rescued humpback whale later found dead off Mar del Tuyú, Argentina

Kevin Michael
Star Pulse
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 13:31 UTC
Stranded whale
A humpback whale appeared to wave to its rescuers after being helped back to the sea off the coast of Mar del Tuyú, Argentina last week after becoming trapped in the shallow waters.

The whale fought the tides for over 24 hours, and dozens of rescue workers helped get it back to deeper waters, even employing a hose to help drag it further out to sea, according to reports in the Argentine media (via Reuters).

Weighing in at around 10 tons and measuring 50 feet long, the humpback whale was successfully returned to sea despite a tide that didn't get as high as rescuers hoped.

The animals are rarely spotted off the coast of Buenos Aires province and are usually are seen much further south, off the Valdes Peninsula, and between the months of September and March.


Unfortunately the story doesn't have a happy ending -- just days after its rescue, the Argentine Naval Prefecture reported that the whale was found dead, and experts believe it was sick to begin with.
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Attention

Humpback whale found dead at Pescadero Beach, California

Natalia Hall
Northern California News
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 13:16 UTC
Whale
Remove one whale from the list of total number of humpback whales around the world as a young member of the family has been found beached near Pescadero, California.

Humpback whale species is an endangered species whose one whale washed ashore at Pescadero's Bean Hollow State Beach. It was a 32-foot juvenile female humpback whose carcass was found on Monday at the beach.

Seagulls were also seen on Monday flying over the dead whale. Officials came to know about the beached animal when some Austrian tourists noticed something unusual on the beach. According to the tourists, they were en route to Monterey when they stopped to check what was wrong there. No one in the group was sure what it was. At first, they thought it could be a huge tent or something similar to it, said Verena Ebner, a witness.

While providing details on the whale carcass, Lisa Schiller, who saw the whale closely, said it was shredded completely, and it was very sad to see that. Another witness, Lesya Castillo, said, "Picnickers also stopped, but the stench quickly drove them away. The smell is incredible. We're going to go a little bit farther".
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Cloud Precipitation

China floods update: Death toll from torrential rains hits 164 as fourth official suspended over flood response

Mimi Lau
South China Morning Post
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 05:03 UTC
China flood damage
© Xinhua/Wang XiaoA vehicle destroyed in floods is seen in Daxian Village of Xingtai City, north China's Hebei Province, July 24, 2016.
The death toll from torrential rain that has battered 10 provinces and 62 cities stood at 164 on Monday, with another 125 people missing, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

One more official was also suspended for alleged poor flood control measures in Hebei, where the disaster killed at least 130 ­people.

The latest official to be disciplined over alleged mismanagement of flood control and disaster relief was Guo Tongheng, deputy Communist Party secretary of Xingtai's Wangkuai township, Xingtai authorities said.

The announcement came after four officials from Xingtai, Shijiazhuang and Jingxing in Hebei province were suspended over mismanaging the flood response, pending the outcome of further investigation.


Comment: Aside from the humanitarian and environmental toll, and growing public outrage over the official handling of this latest flooding in China, provincial authorities stated recently that direct economic losses amounted to 16.3 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars).

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Sun

Wildlife dying en masse as Pilcomayo river runs dry in Paraguay

Aaron Sidder
National Georaphic.
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:33 UTC
A cattle carcass on the Agropil ranch, in Boquerón, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina. The Pilcomayo River is suffering through its worst drought in almost two decades while cattle and wildlife pay the price.
© Jorge AdornoA cattle carcass on the Agropil ranch, in Boquerón, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina. The Pilcomayo River is suffering through its worst drought in almost two decades while cattle and wildlife pay the price.
Vultures rest in the tree's upper branches, their black bodies in stark contrast to the blanched wood beneath their feet. Below them, caimans and capybaras crawl in sucking mud through the Agropil lagoon, seeking water that is unlikely to arrive for many months. The river has dried up, and there is nowhere for them to go.

The lagoon, located in the western Paraguayan province of Boquerón, is just one of many stretches of the Pilcomayo River suffering an extensive die-off of caiman, fish, and other river creatures. There have not been any official estimates from the Ministry of the Environment, but Roque González Vera, a journalist for ABC Color in Paraguay, reports utter devastation in some places: Up to 98 percent of caimans (Caiman yacare) are suspected dead, and 80 percent of the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) population has died.

Paraguay is in the midst of an ecological crisis.
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Alarm Clock

USGS: Strong 6.3 magnitude earthquake hits off Papua New Guinea


Hindustan Times
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 06:16 UTC
Papua New Guinea earthquake map
© USGSA map of Papua New Guinea showing the epicentre of the quake (blue) that hit the island nation on Tuesday, 26 July 2016.
A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea in the Admiralty Islands area early today, US geologists said, but no destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is expected.

The offshore quake hit at 5.38am (local time) and occurred 128km southeast of Lorengau, Papua New Guinea, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The epicentre was at a depth of 6.6km.

No damage or injuries were immediately reported. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre assured that there was no threat of a widespread tsunami.

Quakes are common for the island nation that lies on the 4,000km-long Pacific Australia plate, which forms part of the "Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
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