Earth ChangesS


Wolf

Dozens of pets killed by coyotes in College Park, Florida

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Residents in College Park have been dealing with wild coyotes terrorizing their neighborhood and killing their pets over the last few months.

Three to four dozen animals, mostly cats, have been attacked over that time and residents have been left to fend for themselves.

Some ask if it will take a person being attacked by a coyote before anything is done by officials.

"It was just horrible. I hardly even slept last night," said Marcia Kazmi, whose cat was killed by a coyote. "It would have been better for me if my cat had been run over by a car."

Kazmi was devastated by the death of her prized Blue Point Himalayan, named Max, who was found dead in a neighbor's backyard Monday afternoon.

Attention

Fourth elephant attack within four weeks in Sri Lanka

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Elephant breaking a branch after a charge.
Journalist cum farmer, I. L. Siraj from Palamunai, in the Ampara District had a brush with death, when a lone elephant attacked him.

The journalist was heading to his paddy field on his motorcycle, early in the morning, when the elephant rushed out of the jungle at Palamunai and attacked him with his trunk.

He lay on the paddy field without movement as the elephant came closer to him. According to Siraj the elephant stood there for a couple of minutes and then moved slowly into the nearby jungle without causing him further harm.

It was after the elephant disappeared from the scene that the people from the surroundings approached and rushed the journalist to the hospital. Siraj suffered a fracture of his right arm.

Meanwhile, according to the paddy cultivators from the Palamunai area, the elephant involved in the attack has been roaming around the Palamunai area for the past several weeks.

Comment: See also these reports of recent attacks: Two killed in a wild elephant attack in Maankulam, Sri Lanka

One person killed in wild elephant attack in Sri Lanka

Three tourists escaped with only minor injuries after elephant overturns car in Kruger Park, South Africa

Eight elephants attack town; one person reported dead in Ghana

2 killed in separate wild elephant attacks in India

Wild elephant attacks kills two in Sri Lanka


Attention

Rare Arctic muskox spotted in northern Manitoba

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© Dan WettlauferManitoba hunters spotted a muskox, similar to the one pictured here, near Tadoule Lake recently and reported it to Manitoba Conservation. It's the first sighting in over a century in this province. This is a photograph of a muskox spotted at the Northwest Territories-Alberta border two years ago.
Conservationists are thrilled to hear hunters in northern Manitoba have spotted a muskox.

Hunters from Tadoule Lake told provincial officials last week they spotted a muskox from their canoe during a hunting trip.

Manitoba Conservation biologist Bill Watkins said the animal hasn't been seen in this province since the late 1800s.

While there are 75,000 muskox in the north, the Arctic animals named for the strong smell they give off during the rutting season, disappeared from this province during the fur trade.

Attention

Dead fin whale found on beach in Warrnambool, Australia

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© DEPIThe dead whale washed up on Levy’s Beach on Monday.

A 16-metre-long dead whale has washed up on an isolated beach near Warrnambool, in Victoria's south-west.

The young female fin whale (Balænoptera physalus), which is estimated to weigh 25 tonnes, was found on Levy's Beach on Monday and word leaked out about it amongst local residents on Tuesday.

The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) said it did not inform the public sooner as it was planning its overall response, including managing the scene.

DEPI biodiversity officer Mandy Watson said at this stage the cause of the death was unknown.

"These whales are quite vulnerable to ship strike. They are a surface-feeding whale so they are vulnerable from that point of view, and that is one of the bigger threats to the species," she said.

Cloud Grey

Noctilucent clouds captured by ISS astronauts

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The view of our planet from space is amazing, but from time to time, the astronauts on board the International Space Station are able to spot an elusive treat - wispy, shining 'polar mesospheric clouds' hanging far above the planet's surface, like these ones spotted above the Ukraine on August 1, 2014.

Polar mesospheric clouds are pretty much what they sound like. They're clouds that happen over the planet's north and south poles, at mesospheric heights, or about 80 to 100 kilometres above the ground. The thin, wispy layer of ice crystals that they're composed of is virtually invisible during the day, when the sunlight is shining down through it. However, as the Sun is setting, and the rays of light from it strike this layer of ice crystals edge-on, the effect is quite spectacular.

Comment:
Noctilucent cloud intensity is a precursor to changes in global weather patterns. And it should be no surprise that the climate is not at all what it used to be, say 10 years ago. In fact Noctilucent clouds have increasingly become a more ordinary sight at lower latitudes, with the increased fireball and meteor activity in our skies (loading the skies with dust), along with the severe cooling of our upper atmosphere from low solar activity.

Noctilucent outburst over Europe
More cometary dust in the atmosphere: Noctilucent clouds appear above Gateshead in the UK late at night

To get ahead on what our solar system is up to with its ominous weather, read:
Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection (The Secret History of the World Book 3)


Attention

Sweden earthquake 'was strongest in 100 years'

Sweden earthquake
© TTThis graph shows the moment of impact in Hassela, which is 13 kilometres from the earthquake's epicentre.
An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale shook parts of central Sweden on Monday and experts have revealed it was the strongest in a century.

The quake hit in the afternoon between the towns of Mora and Sveg.

"There was a bloody great bang, it was like a bomb," Åke Hedman near Ljusdal told the Aftonbladet newspaper. "It was as if there was a lightning bolt directly above me - only ten times worse," the 57-year-old added.

Björn Lund, a seismologist at Uppsala University, said the earthquake is the strongest Sweden has seen since 1904 when an area by the Koster islands was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the scale.

Attention

Third bear attack on people in India within 4 days - 17 injured

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A Bear attacked Banali village Near Boniyar, Thursday afternoon in this frontier town and injured 17 people including a wild life employee. The bear was later killed by a joint venture of locals and wild life officials.

The Bear was seen in the village at around 3 pm attacking the people mostly busy at their work in their fields.

In just half an hour 17 people got injured in the bear attack.

The injured were shifted to PHC Boniyar, were from three were shifted to Baramulla.

Attention

3 injured in 2 separate bear attacks in India

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A bear attacked and injured Abdul Rahim Cheche resident of Checki Wargund, Ban Angan, near his house in Dooru, Islamabad, a police statement said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in another similar incident, two persons Abdul Ahad Lone and Manzoor Ahmad Bhat residents of Shonglipora Khag were injured in a bear attack at Shunglipora, Khag Budgam.

Fish

Hundreds of dead fish wash up on Alicante beach, Spain

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Environment agents from SEPRONA and biologists from the Institute of Coastal Ecology are investigating the appearance of hundreds of dead fish that were washed up on San Gabriel beach, Alicante.

They were dead on the sand and shoreline amid a strong odour, forcing red flags to be flown to prevent people from swimming in the area.

Officials have collected samples of the water, which was black, and specimens of dead fish have been taken for detailed analysis.

As residents voiced their concerns about a waste spill or pollutants being pumped in the sea, biologists said the deaths could be from natural causes, possibly due to a loss of oxygen in the water from the heat and winds that inhibit the flow of water and therefore fish are unable to breathe.

Comment: See also: Hundreds of methane plumes erupting along U.S. Atlantic coast

Casualties of seafloor methane gas release? Hundreds of thousands more fish found dead in Plymouth tidal pool, UK


Attention

Two killed in a wild elephant attack in Maankulam, Sri Lanka

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Two persons have been killed when a wild elephant rammed onto a vehicle along the A9 road in Maankulam last night.

Police said 4 persons including a female have sustained injuries.

The deceased are 70 and 74 years of age.

The injured are receiving treatment at the Kilinochchi and Maankulam Hospitals.

Comment: See also these reports of recent attacks: One person killed in wild elephant attack in Sri Lanka

Three tourists escaped with only minor injuries after elephant overturns car in Kruger Park, South Africa

Eight elephants attack town; one person reported dead in Ghana

2 killed in separate wild elephant attacks in India

Wild elephant attacks kills two in Sri Lanka