Earth ChangesS


Umbrella

Waterspout of over 100m high filmed off Vietnam

Linh Nhat
Vietnam Net
Tue, 27 Oct 2015 16:04 UTC
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Tornado of over one hundred meters frightens Vung Tau tourists
This is the second time a waterspout has been seen in Vung Tau. The first was reported in May in the sea of Long Hai.

In August, a waterspout was also witnessed in the Hai Phong northern port city and the southern province of Kien Giang.

A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex that occurs over a body of water. They are connected to a towering cumuliform cloud or a cumulonimbus cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water.

Waterspouts have a five-part life cycle: formation of a dark spot on the water surface, spiral pattern on the water surface, formation of a spray ring, development of the visible condensation funnel, and ultimately decay.

Ms. Le Thi Xuan Lan, from the Hydro-meteorological Observatory of the Southern Region, said that in Vietnam, this phenomenon usually occurs at the beginning and during the rainy season and more in the south than the north, particularly in the sea of Rach Gia - Kien Giang - Tho Chu. However, waterspouts in Vietnam are not too strong.

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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall hits large swath of north China


cctv-america.com
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:20 UTC
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Heavy snow hits large swath of north China
Heavy snow has blanketed a large swath of north China on Monday, Oct 26th, disturbing traffic but bringing beautiful winter scenery.

A snowstorm hit Mohe, China's northernmost county in Heilongjiang Province, from early morning on Monday.

The depth of snow reached 8 centimeters (3.14 inches) by 17:00 and the heavy snow brought the visibility down to less than 100 meters (328 feet) as well. Vehicles have to slow down on snow-covered roads, while the local sanitation department dispatched snowplows to clear up the roads.

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Bizarro Earth

Offshore mud volcano erupts off Taman Peninsula, Russia


RT
Tue, 27 Oct 2015 01:10 UTC
mud volcano off Taman peninsula
© Bogdan Cristel / Reuters
An abandoned autumn beach looking out on the Sea of Azov became a popular sightseeing attraction over the weekend, after mother nature created an incredible mud volcano, which formed a wide, flat island just a few dozen meters away from the shore.

Spewing a slurry made of water and gases mixed with sand and dirt, the mud volcano shot several meters into the air as it started forming an artificial island on Sunday, just off the coast of the Taman Peninsula.

The act of nature was recorded by local beach strollers who witnessed the mud volcano, most typically formed after hot water below the earth's surface begins to blend with mineral deposits, pushing the mixture to the surface. But unlike an actual volcano, the muddy imitation produces no lava.

Comment: Another sign of Earth 'opening up'? See also:

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Attention

Afghanistan earthquake death toll nears 300


9news.com.au
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 21:04 UTC
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© Hazrat Ali Bacha/ReutersA resident walks past the rubble of a house after it was damaged by an earthquake in Mingora, Swat, Pakistan, on Monday.
Nearly 280 people were killed when a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake centred in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan ripped across South Asia, toppling buildings, triggering stampedes and knocking out communication lines.

The full scale of Monday's disaster and human toll was unclear when night fell over the remote and rugged terrain as authorities in Pakistan and Afghanistan rushed to mount rescue efforts.

In the most horrifying tragedy to emerge so far from the quake, 12 young Afghan girls were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their shaking school building.

The bulk of the casualties were reported from Pakistan, where 214 people were killed and more than 1800 injured, disaster management authorities said.


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Attention

2 small earthquakes strike in area of recent swarms in San Ramon, California

Peter Hockaday
San Francisco Chronicle
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 20:34 UTC
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A magnitude-2.9 earthquake struck near San Ramon on Sunday night and a magnitude-2.6 quake hit the same area early Monday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was centered 1 mile east of San Ramon and struck at 10:13 p.m. The smaller one hit at 2:48 a.m. in roughly the same area.

The area has seen more than 200 small quakes in recent weeks, part of a swarm that started Oct. 15. Seismologists have said there isn't anything to fear over the swarm. They say the Calaveras Fault is releasing tension, and the chances of a quake above magnitude 6.7 is only 7 percent within the next 30 years.

For a map of the latest quakes and more earthquake resources, check out the SFGATE earthquake page here.

Comment: See also: Over 200 earthquakes swarm San Francisco Bay Area

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Cloud Precipitation

Tens of thousands of Israelis remain without power following heavy storm


Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 20:10 UTC
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© Emunah OsterDowned trees block roads in the central Israel city of Kfar Saba following a storm that left tens of thousands of households without power a day later, Oct. 25, 2015.
Tens of thousands of Israelis remained without power a day after a severe storm passed through the country and caused the death of a construction worker.

Most of the homes without power on Monday, a day after the lashing rain and strong winds blew through the country, are in central Israel, where traffic and street lights are not working, causing dangerous traffic tie-ups.

Hundreds of trees and large branches remain on the ground, as well as felled billboards and power lines. Debris from private homes and building sites also is littering the streets.

The worker, 20, was killed Sunday in the central Israeli city of Pardes Hanna when the heavy winds blew down a wall at the site where he was working.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 2 in South Africa

Jeff Wicks
News24
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 19:52 UTC
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Two women were killed in two separate lightning strikes during a storm near Harding in KZN on Sunday night.

Two other women were seriously injured and were treated by paramedics who responded to the emergency.

KZN EMS spokesperson Robert McKenzie said that the emergency call centre had received multiple reports of lightning strikes at the Jali Informal settlement.

"From the initial incident we had a 51-year-old woman who was killed when lightning struck her home. She sadly sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead at the scene. Several other people who were inside the house managed to escape unharmed," he said.
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Attention

Man survives black bear attack in Eastpoint, Florida


wctv.tv
Sat, 24 Oct 2015 19:31 UTC
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FWC investigating bear attack in Eastpoint, Franklin County
It wasn't an ordinary day at the Sportsman's Lodge and Hotel.

Charlie Griffin came face to face with a bear after checking the dumpster Friday.

"I done this and a bear came out of there, I couldn't get away from him," said Griffin.

He says the 400 pound bear popped out of the dumpster and ran him down.

"And the bear caught me right around here," as Griffin point's out the spot.

Slashed by the bear on the arm, Charlie ran leaving bloody prints.

"I was heading back this way, and I slipped right here fell down here. and after I fell down the bear went back that way," said Griffin as he points where he fell behind the truck.
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Attention

Woman nearly killed in kangaroo attack near Adelaide, Australia

Nigel Hunt
adelaidenow.com.au
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 18:41 UTC
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© Dean MartinMargaret Acton was attacked and badly injured by a kangaroo while walking her dog "Jess" on the family property in the Adelaide Hills.
Margaret Acton can still remember the blows raining down on her body.

Her towering attacker showed no hesitation as he struck and scratched violently at her head, face, upper body and legs dozens of times.

But Mrs Acton's attacker wasn't an intruder in her home. Astonishingly, it was a two-metre tall kangaroo that lives in scrubland on her Adelaide Hills property.

When the blows from the huge male marsupial finally stopped — only after her dog Jess intervened — Mrs Acton could feel the warm blood gushing down her face and neck as it flowed freely from shocking wounds that had opened up her scalp.
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Butterfly

Flamingos migrating to Caspian Sea in mortal danger - lost in Siberia


RT
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 17:41 UTC
Flamingos siberia
© Anuruddha / Reuters Greater Flamingos land at Bundala National Park, Hambantota, Sri Lanka.
A video posted online of a group of flamingos stranded in Western Siberia is raising concerns that the birds will die without human help.

Russian social media VKontakte user Pavel Shaposhnikov posted the video on his page with the caption: "I'm shocked! Watched a flock of flamingos on River Tom! 25.10.2015 in the Kemerovo region."


The average temperature in the Kemerovo region at this time of year is near zero degrees Celsius, and drops lower at night.

The birds have likely lost their way while migrating from Kazakhstan. This has happened before: the first such case of lost flamingos dates back to 1907 in the region's records.

Nikolay Skalon, a professor in the zoology and ecology department of Kemerovo State University, told Russian media that "younger birds lose their way because of changing weather when the autumn storms start," and added that they can only survive with human help.

Normally, the flamingos that spend the summers in Kazakhstan are meant to fly toward the Caspian sea for winter.

Temperatures in Kemerovo are set to drop to -10 degrees Celsius toward the end of the week - too cold for the pink birds, who are used to tropical and subtropical climes.

Comment: More animal strangeness.

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