Earth ChangesS


Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Rare sighting of little swift near Dunbar in Scotland


BBC
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 18:04 UTC
Little swift
© Michelle and Peter Wong/WildscreenLittle swift
A little swift has been spotted in Scotland for only the fourth recorded time.

The bird was discovered at Thortonloch, near Dunbar in East Lothian, on Hogmanay.

The little swift, whose scientific name is apus affinis, breeds from Africa eastwards through southern tropical Asia to western Indonesia.

The bird, which is also known as a house swift, typically nests around buildings and cliffs.

map little swift
© Wikimedia CommonsDistribution of little swift. Resident range: dark green; summer range: lighter green.
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Arrow Down

Huge sinkhole appears in Laudium, South Africa


Pretoria East Rekord
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 19:46 UTC
sinkhole appears in Laudium, South Africa
© Abramjee / Twitter Sinkhole Laudium, South Africa
A massive sinkhole appeared in Second Avenue, Laudium following an alleged pipe burst.

Tshwane metro closed off Second Avenue in Laudium after a part of the road reportedly sunk.

A bystander contacted Rekord to say that a water pipe that had burst was allegedly the cause of the ground giving way.
"The metro is on the scene and will apparently cut power to the area to start with repairs," the bystander, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.
The bystander also reported that a cellphone tower had been damaged after it collapsed into sinkhole.

See video shared on Facebook by Yusuf Abramjee, global communications director for Crime Stoppers:


Comment: See also: Motorcyclist talks about his 'dive' into huge sinkhole in Kempton Park, South Africa

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Snowflake Cold

Snow blankets Turkey's Hakkari as temperatures plunge as low as -16C

Harry Readhead
Metro
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 16:38 UTC
Heavy snow in Turkey
© Getty Images
It might be a mild winter in the UK, but it's snowing hard in Turkey.

In Hakkari, residents are trying (and often failing) to clear snow off the road and off their cars.

Airline passengers are facing lengthy delays and cancellations and there have been a number of road closures.

Snow storms and extreme weather continue across the city, where temperatures have plunged as low as -16C.

In Instanbul, at least one person has died in an accident related to snow on the roads, and several others have been injured.


Comment: See also: Heavy snowfall causes mass disruption in Turkey as New Year's celebrations looms

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Snowflake

Update: Death toll from Storm Goliath in Texas and New Mexico up to 40,000 head of cattle

John Boylan
Irish Farmers Journal
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 11:58 UTC
1966 South Dakota Blizzard
© NOAAA snow-covered steer in South Dakota after a blizzard in 1966.
While Ireland battles with widespread flooding, snow and wind in the US has caused havoc on dairy farms.

Storm Goliath tore through Clovis, New Mexico, where Glanbia are involved in cheese manufacture, and Lubbock, Texas last weekend. The storm dumped 22 inches of snow driven by wind speeds of 100km/h, causing havoc on dairy farms where it left over 40,000 dairy cattle dead and closed down most dairies.

News of the disaster took some time to come from the region as producers started clearing the snow on feed passages and dealing with power cuts throughout the area.

Texas Association of Dairymen is contacting state and federal leaders seeking assistance. In addition to the 40,000 dairy cattle lost during the storm, beef cattle feedlots are also affected. The huge loss will make any indemnity program trying to make a real impact to the affected farmers hard to achieve as most of the dairy cattle losses in Texas comes from just three counties. One farmer lost 350 cows and there are 30 other farmers in a similar situation.

The Clovis News Journal reported that the Glanbia-run Southwest Cheese of Clovis operated at just 10% of normal delivery on Monday; it had recovered to 90% on Wednesday.

Comment: Earlier report: Snow Blizzard kills more than 30,000 dairy cows in Texas, New Mexico (number could climb higher)

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Snowflake

Seven feet of snow closes roads in Naran, Pakistan

Sidrah Roghay
aaj.tv
Wed, 30 Dec 2015 11:04 UTC
Snow on road
Residents of Naran valley on Thursday stuck as all communication lines and roads have been blocked because of heavy snowfall which was more than seven feet.

According to the residents of Naran valley a large number of locals have migrated to other cities of Hazara division while some of the people are still residing in the area despite the hardships of the weather and shortage of firewood.

General Councilor of Naran valley Muhammad Haneef while talking to media alleged that after the heavy snowfall, electricity and PTCL lines have been completely damaged and mobile phone companies have also stopped their operation in the area.
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Alarm Clock

Best of the Web: A year of extremes: Severe snow storms, drought and floods ravaged the US in 2015

Oliver Milman
The Guardian, UK
Sun, 27 Dec 2015 12:30 UTC
Butte wildfire
© Andrew Seng/Rex Shutterstock Fire crews ran night operations and controlled burnings to contain the Butte fire in Sheep Ranch Wildfires in California.

In the warmest year on record, Mother Nature wrought havoc across the country, with large swaths of the west coast ablaze during the summer and the north-east blanketed in snow for most of the winter

2015 has been the warmest year, globally, on record, with the lower 48 states of the US experiencing their balmiest autumn ever measured.

This kind of exceptional heat provided an appropriate setting for the Paris climate summit, where 196 nations agreed to curb greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the sort of dangerous climate change that contributes to floods, drought and damaging sea level rises.

But the past year has also seen a number of severe natural disasters, climate change-fueled or otherwise, that have battered the US. The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued 77 disaster declarations in 2015. Here are some of the disasters that tested Americans this year.

Comment: See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - November 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


To gain further understanding as to how and why these events are occurring, read:

Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection: The Secret History of the World - Book 3 by Pierre Lescaudron
and Laura Knight-Jadczyk

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Cloud Precipitation

Mississippi flood surge rushes South as St. Louis cleans up

Miguel Almaguer, Alastair Jamieson & Elizabeth Chuck
NBC News
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 22:34 UTC
Flooded field in Missouri
© Michael B. Thomas / Getty ImagesA flooded-out football field is seen at the Jefferson County Youth Association on Jan. 2, 2016 in Arnold, Missouri.
The swollen Mississippi River was pushing downstream at 10 times the speed of the Niagara Falls on Saturday, threatening more floods in rural southern Missouri and Illinois.

Two more levees along its course succumbed Friday, bringing to at least 11 the number of levee failures. In Arnold, Missouri, an estimated 150 homes were underwater.
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Blue Planet

Mysterious absence: Where are Hawaii's humpback whales?

AP Staff Writers
Christian Science Monitor
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 20:39 UTC
Humpback whale
© NOAAHumpback whale
December usually marks the start of humpback whale season in Hawaii, but experts say the animals have been slow to return this year.

The giant whales are an iconic part of winter on the islands and a source of income for tour operators. But officials at the Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary said they've been getting reports that the whales have been difficult to spot so far.

"This isn't a concern, but it's of interest. One theory was that something like this happened as whales increased. It's a product of their success," said Ed Lyman, a Maui-based resource protection manager and response coordinator for the sanctuary.
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Info

Dozens of starving seabirds found grounded inland in Southcentral Alaska

Zaz Hollander
Alaska Dispatch News
Tue, 30 Dec 2014 19:20 UTC
A Common Murre rests on the side of Crystal Lake Road in Willow on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015
© Bill Roth / ADNA Common Murre rests on the side of Crystal Lake Road in Willow on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015
Normally found skimming the North Pacific, seabirds known as common murres are appearing inland in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and elsewhere in Southcentral Alaska, starving and unable to fly.

Reports of grounded murres have emerged from Moose Pass to north of Talkeetna, with many found this week in the Susitna Valley. The foot-tall black and white birds that resemble small penguins are showing up in odd places -- on the shoulder of busy Knik-Goose Bay Road outside Wasilla, just off a sled dog trail in Willow, tucked up next to a house in Houston.

The influx of murres is inundating local wildlife rehabilitation centers.

On Wednesday alone, 20 murres arrived at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage from Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center in Houston, where Susitna Valley residents are bringing grounded birds.

Hundreds of people shared social media posts about the bizarre murre sightings. One Valley resident posted a pathetic photo of a murre on its side in the snow on a Facebook group for Mat-Su lost and found pets with a comment: "This little fella is sitting in our driveway. I'm not sure what's wrong with him but he can't seem to fly away -- he can waddle and that's about it."
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Attention

6.4 magnitude earthquake hits China


Times of India
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 18:49 UTC
Earthquake graph
© Science Photo Library
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit China on Saturday, said the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC).

The quake hit Mudanjiang city of northeast China's Heilongjiang province at 12.22 a.m. (local time) on Saturday, Xinhua reported.

The epicentre was monitored at 44.81 degrees north latitude and 129.95 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 580 km, according to the CENC.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service
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