Earth ChangesS


Red Flag

Beach still closed after shark attack in Port Macquarie, Australia


9news.com.au
Sun, 23 Aug 2015 13:15 UTC
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Jaws
Beaches in NSW's mid-north coast remain closed after a bodyboarder was attacked by a shark.

A 38-year-old man, named in media reports as Dale Carr, remains in a stable condition at a Port Macquarie hospital after being mauled while bodyboarding with a friend at Lighthouse Beach on Saturday evening.

He suffered leg, back and stomach injuries while escaping the suspected three-metre bull shark.

Mr Carr is reportedly a father-of-two and a former rugby league player for the Port Macquarie Sharks.

"Our healing and loving thoughts go to one of our friends and ex players Dale Carr and his family," the club said in a statement on Facebook.

"We are here for any support we can give, you mean a lot to your buddies Dale."
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike on Alabama coast claims the life of 12-year-old Arkansas girl


al.com
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 12:18 UTC
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© Central Arkansas Christian School via FacebookMegan Nickell, a 7th grader at Central Arkansas Christian School, reportedly died after she was struck by lightning at Fort Morgan in Alabama, on Sunday, July 5, 2015.
A 12-year-old girl injured in a lightning strike on the Fort Morgan peninsula Sunday has died, officials with Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, confirmed Tuesday.

Mike Burke, director of marketing and public relations for the hospital, identified the girl as Megan Nickell.

On social media, school officials said Megan was a 7th grader at Central Arkansas Christian School in North Little Rock. On Monday night, the school held a prayer service for Megan and her family.

On Sunday afternoon, Megan was playing volleyball on the beach at the west end of Fort Morgan Road when a lightning bolt struck her, Fort Morgan Volunteer Fire Department Chief Glenn Stevens told AL.com.

She was transported to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley and later to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3, injures 4 in Bihar, India


Business Standard
Thu, 02 Jul 2015 12:04 UTC
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Three persons were killed and four others injured in a lightning strike in a village under Manihari police station in Katihar district.

Block Development Officer (BDO) Ashutosh Kumar said three persons died on the spot and four sustained burn injuries in the incident that took place in Milik Phokhar village.

The deceased were identified as Prakash Yadav, Badal Yadav and Anjesh Yadav, he said, adding that their bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

The injured persons were admitted to a government hospital where the condition of two of them was stated to be critical.

Source: Press Trust of India
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Cloud Precipitation

Downpour pummels İstanbul, leads to flash floods


Sundays Zaman
Sun, 23 Aug 2015 10:54 UTC
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© Cihan/ DHA/Today's ZamanPeople in Üsküdar, which was inundated with water, had difficulty walking in the streets.
A continuous downpour that began late on Saturday in Istanbul caused flash floods and disrupted traffic and daily life in some parts of the city up until Sunday afternoon.

The downpour started on Saturday evening, and the rain continued throughout the night, after which the temperature in the city returned to the seasonal norm. While some parts of Istanbul witnessed light rain, others were heavily affected by the showers.

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People who were caught out in the rain without umbrellas in Taksim took shelter under shop canopies.

Heavy rain paralyzed traffic and daily life in some areas. One of the districts hardest hit by the rain was Üsküdar on the Asian side of Istanbul. People in the district, which was inundated with water, had difficulty walking in the streets and in moving their vehicles.

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Red Flag

Report: Extreme weather could cause huge food shortages


AOL
Sat, 22 Aug 2015 09:49 UTC
drought sign LA
© mashable.comFreeway sign in Los Angeles. No end in sight for California drought.
An international team of researchers has quantified the biggest problems with Earth's food. In a nutshell, it's getting harder to grow enough to feed everyone.

Droughts, heat waves and floods likely brought on by climate change are getting more frequent, as is their suppressive effect on the global food supply.

Researchers with the U.K. Global Food Security program found food shortages caused by extreme weather will be three times more likely over the next few decades.

The researchers stress their numbers are predictions based on limited data but nonetheless suggest "the risk of a 1-in-100 year production shock is likely to increase to 1-in-30 or more by 2040."

Their models suggest by 2070, such shocks could be happening in seven out of every 10 years. The changing climate is one of three major stress points on food reserves.

Comment: In another report published earlier this year researchers warned that society could collapse by 2040 due to the "unprecedented epidemic of food riots". Around the world drinking water is becoming increasing scarce and toxic exacerbating global stresses on humanity.

A social and economic collapse could certainly happen sooner than 2040 if the dollar collapses and the U.S. experiences an economic meltdown, like many commentators have been predicting could happen soon:

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Arrow Down

Huge sinkhole snarls traffic in Lynn, Massachusetts

Michael Rosenfield and Allison Sonfist
necn.com
Fri, 21 Aug 2015 21:50 UTC
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© wcvb.com
An extremely large sinkhole in Lynn, Massachusetts, has tied up traffic for the Friday afternoon and evening commutes.

The sinkhole is located at Shepard and South Common Streets. It is about 12 feet in diameter.

The problems are mounting after a sewer line broke Friday afternoon. Crews on the scene Friday night were working to shut off the water.

The concern is if the water line breaks, and it's already leaking, it could cause a gas main to rupture, which could then lead to an explosion.

City officials say the sewer line that ruptured is made of brick and dates back to the 1800's.

The broken sewer line caused the street to give way. It happened moments after a driver drove over the same section.
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Cloud Precipitation

Up to 5 inches of rain floods Bel Air, Maryland

David Anderson
The Baltimore Sun
Fri, 21 Aug 2015 17:58 UTC
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© Mark EnsorA swift water rescue team from the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company prepares to help a motorist stranded in high water during Thursday evening's massive rainstorm that caused an unusually heavy amount of street flooding in the Bel Air area.
A massive rainstorm that hit Harford County during the evening rush hour Thursday led to multiple rescues of motorists caught in high water at intersections in Bel Air and the surrounding areas.

More than 20 swift water rescue calls were reported around the area between 5 and 9:30 p.m.

Luis Rosa, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Friday that the heaviest rainfall was over Bel Air, which received nearly 5 inches.

He said 3 to 4 inches fell in areas such as Fallston, Darlington, Hickory and Pleasant Hill.

Rosa said radar images at the NWS' Baltimore-Washington Forecast Office in Sterling, Va. showed much of the rain falling north of I-95 between Fallston and the east bank of the Susquehanna River.

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Attention

Boy attacked by shark on South Carolina coast; 11th attack in the region this summer


New York Post
Thu, 20 Aug 2015 16:35 UTC
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Officials say a 15-year-old boy is being treated for injuries to his hand and leg after being bitten by a shark on the South Carolina coast near Myrtle Beach.

Assistant Chief J.R. Haney of the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District says the youth was bitten off Garden City Beach on Thursday and taken to a hospital.

In a statement, the hospital says an emergency room physician confirmed that the injuries were shark bites. The boy was expected to be released from the emergency room later Thursday.

At least 11 people have been reported attacked by sharks while swimming on the beaches of the Carolinas this summer. Two of the victims had limbs amputated.

Source: AP
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Arrow Down

Fracking likely induced a "world record" 4.6-magnitude earthquake in British Columbia

Betsy Trumpener
CBC
Sat, 22 Aug 2015 15:08 UTC
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© UnknownHydraulic fracturing involves pumping water and chemicals deep into the earth to fracture shale rock beds and release natural gas for extraction.
The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission is investigating the cause of a 4.6 magnitude earthquake earlier this week that triggered the shutdown of a major fracking operation just a few kilometres away.

The earthquake struck on Monday afternoon, some 110 kilometres north of Fort St. John, and was felt in Charlie Lake, Fort St. John and Wonowon.

The earthquake's epicentre was just three kilometres from Progress Energy's fracking site, which the company immediately shut down, even though their activities have not been linked to the quake.

After shutting down, Progress Energy notified the commission of the quake, as it is required to do under B.C. regulations.

Those rules also say fracking must halt if an operation triggers an earthquake greater than magnitude 4.0, and cannot resume until a mitigation plan is put in place.

The company has since resumed operations, telling CBC News it has complied with all the regulations.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills boy, hurts playmate in Valenzuela City, Philippines

Rie Takumi
gmanetwork.com
Thu, 20 Aug 2015 11:26 UTC
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A teenage boy was killed while his playmate was wounded when lightning struck the mound where they were playing during a thunderstorm in Barangay Isla, Valenzuela City, an exclusive report on "24 Oras" said Thursday.

Jules Dagdag, 13, was declared dead on arrival while Michael Viray, 9, was still under observation in a hospital, the report said.

Another boy, Jeremiah Isaac Puato, survived the incident after Dagdag pushed him away from the mound, the report said. His relatives said he has been uncommunicative since the incident due to shock.

A witness, Jeffrey Ongog, said the boys went to the mound to watch the hail that came with the thunderstorm.

William Dagdag, Jules' father, said he was calling his son but the boy could not hear him because of the noise created by the thunderstorm.
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