Earth ChangesS


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Roads, caravans and power lines are swallowed up by giant sinkholes in the Dead Sea

Sam Tonkin
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 29 Jul 2015 11:51 UTC
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Collapsed: A neglected grove of date palms line a section of a two-lane desert road - a main north-south artery that cuts through Israel and the Palestinian West Bank - that was shut down six months ago when a gaping hole opened up beneath the asphalt
Roads, caravans and power lines are being swallowed up by giant sinkholes appearing at a rapid rate because the Dead Sea is shrinking from Israeli shores in a man-made phenomenon.

Hundreds of sinkholes, some the size of a basketball court and some two storeys deep, are wreaking havoc by devouring land where the shoreline once stood.

Waters are vanishing at a rate of more than one metre a year and the problem is set to get worse without action on an international scale.

A neglected grove of date palms line a section of a two-lane desert road - a main north-south artery that cuts through Israel and the Palestinian West Bank - that was shut down six months ago when a gaping hole opened up beneath the asphalt.

Workers had stopped tending the date grove, fearing the earth might swallow them up.
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Worrying phenomenon: Hundreds of sinkholes, some the size of a basketball court and some two storeys deep, are wreaking havoc by devouring land where the Israeli shoreline once stood. It is happening because the Dead Sea is shrinking at a rapid rate
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Moon

Blue moon: Britain to witness rare celestial event


RT
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 12:33 UTC
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© Toby Melville/Reuters
Britain will be treated to a rare astrological spectacle on Friday evening as the first blue moon since 2012 graces its skies.

The blue moon, which refers to the extra full moon that takes place over a calendar year, will not be seen again until 2018, so stargazers and astronomers alike will be making the most of the natural spectacle.

But the extra full moon is something of a misnomer, and those viewing it may be disappointed to discover that the blue moon is no bluer than a regular moon. In other words, it's going to be quite gray.

Blue moons occur due to a difference between calendar and lunar months. A calendar month is anything between 28-31 days, whereas the length between lunar months - the time between two full moons - is always 29.53 days.

The phenomenon has more significance for astrologers, people who claim they can glean meaning from the movement of the stars, than for scientific astronomers.

A blue moon traditionally marks a time of change and possibility in the astrological world.

The blue moon is the first since August 31, 2012, and won't be seen again until January 31, 2018.
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Sun

Iranian city approaches record for world's hottest day


Sputnik
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 03:51 UTC
hottest day
© AP Photo/ sergei_fish13
Residents of the Iranian city of Bandar Mahshar were eager to reach a deal that would give them relief from the heat Thursday, when the air there felt like 154 degrees, factoring in the humidity.

The actual air temperature was 109 degrees with a dew point temperature of 90, the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang reported.

"Bandar Mahshahr sits adjacent to the Persian Gulf in southwest Iran where water temperatures are in the 90s. Such high temperatures lead to some of the most oppressive humidity levels in the world when winds blow off the water," wrote Jason Samenow, of the Post.

Comment: All over the world extreme weather records are being broken! See also:

Russian scientist: Slowdown in Earth's rotation means we're on the verge of major climatic upheaval

Heat and high humidity can be a deadly combination

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Landslide death toll climbs to 30 in Kaski, Nepal

Shiva Sharma
ekantipur.com
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:32 UTC
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The death toll from landslides and flooding caused by torrential Monsoon rains in various VDCs of Kaski district has climbed to 30.

According to police, 23 people, including seven of a family, died while six others went missing at Majhgaun in Lumle-6.

Likewise, five persons were buried to death when massive landslide swept away 10 houses at Bhadauretamagi-5, which lies west of famous Phewa Lake in the district. The landslide claimed lives as people climbed to higher places after the flooded Harpankhola entered into the settlement. And two others died in Dhikarpokhari.

Former Chapakot VDC Chairman Bhesraj Parajuli informed that landslides have also buried over a dozen houses in Chapakot and Bhadaure Tamagi VDCs.

A suspension bridge connecting Chapakot and Bhadaure VDCs has been swept by the swollen Harpan and Hadi Khola.
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Cloud Precipitation

Rainstorm turns streets into rivers in northern China


cctv-america.com
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:25 UTC
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Streets have been turned into rivers as rainstorms lashed Yanjiao in Langfang city, in north China's Hebei Province on Thursday.

Pictures taken by locals show that large parts of streets in the city, which is only about 30 kilometers (18.6 mils) from Beijing, have been inundated with water.

Heavy rain also hit Beijing on Thursday afternoon. The Chinese capital has been pelted with rain on at least 30 of the past 50 days.
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Cloud Precipitation

Thousands hungry due to freak cold wave in Papua; hailstorms damage crops and kill livestock

Ahmad Husein
ifrc.org
Wed, 29 Jul 2015 19:00 UTC
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© Indonesian Red Cross SocietyVolunteers of Indonesian Red Cross Society are unloading aid materials in sub-district Kuyawage, Lanny Jaya. About 182,000 people are affected as extreme weather hit areas in Papua, Indonesia.
In recent weeks, thousands of people in the Indonesian Province of Papua have been suffering the effects of a severe cold wave that has left remote communities in need of food and clean water.

The cold wave first struck at the beginning of July, hitting the district of Lanny Jaya particularly hard. The sub-districts of Kuyawage, West Wanu and Goa Baliem were struck by hailstorms accompanied by freezing temperatures which plunged to minus two degrees Celsius.

"Water is an urgent need for the communities in Lanny Jaya," said the Executive Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross Society, Ginandjar Kartasasmita. Local water sources are reportedly frozen or have been contaminated and supplies of bottled water are unavailable in local markets. In response, the Red Cross has so far distributed 500 gallons of drinking water, blankets and instant food to help 182,000 people who are in need of humanitarian assistance.

All aid items have been decided following a rapid assessment carried out by the Red Cross in coordination with local authorities which have distributed five tonnes of rice to Kuyawage and deployed two doctors and five nurses.
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Fire

Growing unrest: Volcanic activity and earthquakes from Mexico to the Philippines


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 00:00 UTC
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Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Centre said in its daily report that the volcano registered a total of 80 low intensity exhalations and six explosions yesterday, releasing plumes of smoke between 1.5 and two kilometers high. Authorities are urging people not to get close to the volcano and particularly to its crater. Popocatepetl is the second tallest volcano in Mexico and is in the centre of the country. - TVNZ

Quake near Alaska's Redoubt Volcano: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake has struck in Alaska, some 42 miles southwest of the active Redoubt Volcano, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has said. Notably, the earthquake also struck near Mt. Katmai, the site of the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. The epicenter was 9 miles south of Mt. Iliamna, another volcano in the area, the Alaska Dispatch News reported. According to the USGS, the quake hit about 141 miles southwest of Anchorage. The agency is forecasting "very light damage." The earthquake was originally reported as having a magnitude of 6.2, but was later revised up slightly. USGS reported two minor tremors prior to the 6.3 magnitude one. Although the quake did not strike far from the Redoubt Volcano, there's nothing to suggest activity has been triggered by the quake. There have been four confirmed eruptions at the volcano since the 20th century began, in 1902, 1966, 1989 and 2009. - RT News

Comment: For a 'bigger picture' and more on just why we are seeing such large-scale activity see:

Russian scientist: Slowdown in Earth's rotation means we're on the verge of major climatic upheaval

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Attention

Dead whale found on beach in Tannirbavi, India


daijiworld.com
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 15:02 UTC
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A dead whale was found at Tannirbavi beach here on Thursday July 30.

The whale was found to have suffered injuries, with wounds and blood marking its body.

Locals who found the whale expressed suspicions that it might have been injured after getting hit by a ship.

The whale is said to be weighing around 15 tonnes.

As the news got around, curious locals arrived to have a glimpse of the whale.

This is the second such incident in Mangaluru region in the past one week. On July 24, a dead whale had washed ashore at Mogaveerpatna near Ullal.

Comment: See also: Decomposed body of whale found on Ullala beach, India

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Snowflake

Summer snow turns Wyoming mountains into a winter wonderland


news.yahoo.com
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:39 UTC
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© Peter Landsman/Jackson Hole Mountain ResortThis Monday, July 27, 2015 photo provided by Jackson Hole Mountain Resort shows high-elevation snowfall during a cold front at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton County, Wyo.
The middle of summer looked like the middle of winter in the mountains of western Wyoming.

A cold front that moved through Monday afternoon dumped heavy rain on the valleys and snow above 9,000 feet.

Officials at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort say they saw the storm coming and shut down their tram before it hit. Resort spokeswoman Anna Olson she didn't hear of any problems from the snowy weather.

She says an inch accumulated at most, but some stuck around until Tuesday.

Photos of the snow posted by the resort on Facebook triggered excitement among skiers — with four months to go yet until ski season.

Olson says snow in July isn't unheard of but she hasn't seen it for several years.

Source: AP
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Question

Out of the abyssal depths: Divers find mysterious giant blob near Turkish coast (VIDEO)


RT
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:14 UTC
blob off Turkey coast
© Lutfu Tanrıover / Vimeo
An enigmatic and gigantic translucent sphere floating near the Turkey's coast recently found by a group of divers, baffling the experts around the world.

A car-sized almost invisible underwater object was discovered by a pair of divers as they were swimming near the coast of a small town in Turkey on July 9. The sphere was drifting 22 meters below the sea level and was about 4 meters wide.

The blob looked gelatinous and felt "very soft," according to one of the divers, named Lutfu Tanriover, who also took footage of the strange phenomenon.

The Istanbul-based diver investigated it with an underwater torch. Although the mass was looking totally transparent, upon a closer view the group spotted small white dots filling the underwater "cloud."

The divers described their finding as a mixture of a miracle and a nightmare and admitted they felt "both excitement and fear" as they neared the otherworldly object, as they told the Deep Sea News.

Lutfu Tanriover recorded the entire encounter with the mysterious sphere on camera and posted it in the internet in hope to find an explanation for the "thing" that appeared to be a total mystery.

Comment: If this blob actually is a huge squid egg mass, could the fact that it has been found in such shallow waters, be yet another indicator of unseen, deep underwater activity?

As the number of volcanoes erupting right now is greater than the 20th century's YEARLY average, a comparable escalation in activity of their underwater counterparts seems logical.

It is estimated there are up to one million submarine volcanoes on our planet. Effects from this volcanic activity, combined with increased methane outgassing and radiation from the Fukushima disaster are probably causing the ongoing devastation of marine life, mass fish die offs and strange migratory behaviour we are currently witnessing.

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