Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Collapse of 123 trees due to showers in Mumbai is unnatural, say environmentalists

Tanvi Deshpande
MiD DAY
Sun, 21 Jun 2015 16:37 UTC
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© Rane AshishA 35-year-old tree was uprooted at Dadar during Friday’s downpour.
Saturday's rainfall caused the felling of 123 trees (including branches) across the city, causing experts and activists to worry about the unnaturally high numbers. Experts have condemned haphazard concretisation, trenching and hacking of branches of trees, activities which lead to such a high number of tree falls every monsoon.

The city experienced rainfall on Saturday as well, which was 10 per cent of the season's average. Apart from reports of parts of building slabs and plasters collapsing and short circuits, the city had hundreds of complaints of trees or their branches falling.

The Western suburbs recorded the highest number of tree or branches falling (71) (71), followed by the island city (36) and eastern suburbs (23). City experts have termed this high number within last 24 hours as unnatural, since not all the trees, which had fallen, were old or aging. Also, they are questioning how rain trees or even banyan trees, which are not known to fall in the monsoon, have been falling over the past five years, showing a changing trend.
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Fire

Over 140 wildfires burn across Alaska: Fire in interior the largest recorded

Chris Klint
ktuu.com
Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:12 UTC
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© Constantine GregoryWildfires continue to burn near Alaska Highway, Southwest Alaska
The Sockeye Fire and the Card Street Fire have been less aggressive over the weekend -- but fires are still threatening the Alaska Highway near Tok and burning wildlands across Southwest Alaska.

According to Department of Natural Resources spokesman Jim Schwarber, the Long Lake Fire -- roughly two miles south of Northway Village - is up to 9,000 acres in size, as of 11 a.m. Monday.

Smoke from these fires will be affecting visibility along the Alaska Highway between Tok and the Canadian border. Motorists are urged to drive with lights on and slow down when visibility is poor or firefighting equipment is present. Flaggers and pilot cars may be used when conditions call for their use in order to keep traffic moving safely through the area affected by the fire.

"This extremely fast-moving fire is currently heading southeast away from Northway and is six miles west of the Alaska Highway," fire officials wrote. "The Long Lake Fire and nearby Moose Creek Fire that started Friday afternoon quickly burned together. The Moose Lake Fire was 80 percent contained with dozer lines when the Long Lake Fire started nearby."

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Umbrella

3 waterspouts seen offshore south of Phuket, Thailand


The Phuket News
Tue, 23 Jun 2015 15:32 UTC
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Racha Yai Island
Three waterspouts, technically mini-tornadoes on water, threatened make landfall at Racha Yai island, about 25km south of Phuket, today (June 23).

Marcus Åkesson, PADI Instructor at Sea Fun Divers, was leading a dive tour at Racha Yai when he spotted the vortexes at about 11am.

Despite never witnessing firsthand what damage a waterspout can inflict, Mr Åkesson told The Phuket News that he did not feel that he was in danger.

"I was not worried at all. It felt so distant and slow moving," he said. "When it came closer, it started dissolving.

"I didn't see any damage from it. Never have. Today was the first time I have ever seen this weather phenomena."

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No Entry

Invasive flatworm posing threat to local wildlife just made its way to Florida

Jennifer Viegas
DNews
Tue, 23 Jun 2015 11:00 UTC
new guinea flatworm
Invasive New Guinea flatworm
One of the world's most invasive species, the New Guinea flatworm, is on the move and has just invaded six new locations, including the continental U.S. — Florida — according to a new study.

The worm (Platydemus manokwari) is on the "100 worst invasive alien species" list, and is now newly located in New Caledonia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Puerto Rico and Florida, according to the study, which is published in PeerJ.

Although the snail lives on the ground, it is able to climb trees to follow and consume prey.

Jean-Lou Justine of the Sorbonne's National Museum of Natural History and his international team of colleagues identified the dreaded worm at the various sites based on observations, DNA sequencing and other techniques.

Because the worm feasts heavily on native mollusks, threatening their populations, the researchers write that "the newly reported presence of the species in mainland U.S. in Florida should be considered a potential major threat to the whole U.S. and even the Americas."
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Snowflake Cold

'One of our coldest days in history' - New Zealand shivers as temperatures plummet


tvnz.co.nz
Tue, 23 Jun 2015 14:55 UTC
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© Unwin LodgeThe area around Mount Cook on June 23
Temperatures approached record lows today as the country shivers in freezing conditions.

The temperature at Pukaki - west of Timaru and south of Aoraki/Mount Cook - hit -20 degree Celsius this morning, 5.6 degrees off the record low set in Ranfurly in 1903.

The MetService said Omarama went as low as -16.7 degrees and Tekapo -13 degrees.

"It's down there New Zealand, one of our coldest days in history," Breakfast weather presenter Sam Wallace says.

By 9.20am many South Island centres had yet to reach zero.

Invercargill was at -3.6 degrees, Alexandra -5.1 degrees and Queenstown -5.3 degrees.

It was still -12.4 degrees at the Pukaki Aerodrome.
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Bizarro Earth

U.S. Mid-West and Great Lakes region battered by thunderstorms, tornadoes


RT
Tue, 23 Jun 2015 10:10 UTC
lightening joliet illinois
© AFP Photo / Jon DurrLighting strikes outside of Joliet, Illinois from a tornadic supercell that produced a tornado that struck Coral City on June 22, 2015 in Joliet, Illinois
The US Mid-West and Great Lakes region have been battered by severe storms. A tornado hit Coal City, some 60 miles (97km) southwest of Chicago, injuring seven people, while five people had to be rescued in the state of Michigan.

At least seven states were hit in all by the thunderstorms, with numerous houses damaged and trees uprooted. Videos captured of the hurricane-like conditions showed an almost apocalyptic scenario, with debris littering the roads.

One of the worst-affected areas was Coal City, southeast of Chicago. A tornado affected the area, while there were at least two injuries according to local authorities, with one person taken to hospital.
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Sun

Sun halo spotted in Pacific Northwest skies


king5.com
Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:21 UTC
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© A. LooneySun halo seen around the Space Needle, Monday, June 22.
Many people around the Northwest witnessed a halo around the sun Monday, appearing as a white or rainbow ring.

NASA explains that the halo is formed when sunlight shines through ice crystals in the air. A similar occurrence is called a sundog, during which a rainbow-colored splash appears to the left or the right of the morning sun.

Share with us your photos of the beautiful phenomenon by uploading them to sharit.king5, or sending them to shareit@king5.com.
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Map

Another earthquake hits Sabah, Malaysia - 89th aftershock recorded since June 5th

Julia Chan
themalaymailonline.com
Tue, 23 Jun 2015 11:52 UTC
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© Fire and rescue servicesMudslides at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu have seen boulders as big as fars flowing down the river and cut off road access between Mesilau and Kundasang.
Another tremor was felt in Sabah at 5.33pm today, making it the 89th aftershock since the deadliest earthquake in the country on June 5.

According to state Meteorological Department director Abdul Malek Tussin, the latest was a 4.3 magnitude earthquake, occurring some 19km northwest of Ranau, Sabah.

Mild tremors were felt as far away as Kota Kinabalu, Ranau, Kota Belud and Kundasang.

Sabah, particularly the Kundasang and Ranau regions, has been rocked by aftershocks — the biggest being 5.1 magnitude — since a 5.9-magnitude quake hit Sabah on June 5, killing 18 climbers on Mount Kinabalu.

Damage from the aftershocks so far include rockfall, mudslides, landslides and cracks to buildings including schools in the area.

Villagers at the foothills of mount Kinabalu have been traumatised by the quake and its subsequent aftershocks, many claiming they are not able to sleep at night for fear of another quake.
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Snowflake

Popular hiking trail in Norway closed because of 1½ meters more snow than normal

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Mon, 22 Jun 2015 20:31 UTC
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© Ivar Arne Nordrum / NRKParts of Gjende lake are still frozen over.
Should be green by now, and have thousands of sheep grazing

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"I am currently on a MC trip up though the coastline in Norway, and it has been a very cold journey so far, only 3C on some passes in the mountains," says reader 996bip.

"I was planning to also do some hiking to some of the known mountains, though tourist season is in full swing, still a lot of places is closed due to snow, and frozen lakes. The popular hiking trail over "Besseggen" was closed due to the boat that takes tourist over the lake, could not go because of ice.

"The same on "Nigardsbreen" a glacier arm on Jostedalsbreen, the boat on that lake could not go because the lake was nearly empty. The summer melt, and the movement of the glacier has not even started yet. I had to walk along the lake about 45min to reach the glacier, and it was amazing be able to go so near and to almost touch the ice. Here's a short clip from that day:

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Attention

Woman injured following pot-belly pig attack in Nampa, Idaho


Idaho Press-Tribune
Fri, 19 Jun 2015 19:31 UTC
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© DPA, AFP/Getty ImagesCanyon County spokesman Joe Decker says the woman was attacked by the pig Thursday morning.
A woman has unknown injuries after she was knocked down and bitten by a pot-bellied pig in Nampa on Thursday morning, Canyon County spokesman Joe Decker said.

The pig escaped from its enclosure on the 3000 block of Karsten Court, he said, but was corralled back onto the property by its owner. That, Decker said, is when it attacked a neighbor who was on the owner's property.

The victim suffered a bite wound and may have sustained additional injuries from the fall.

The owner took the pig to a local veterinarian, and it was euthanized, Decker said. A sheriff's office animal control officer plans to retrieve the animal's head on Friday and take it to the Idaho Department of Agriculture to be tested for rabies.

Because the incident was reported to the sheriff's office via telephone — no officers responded at the time — Decker said the size of the pig and the full extent of the woman's injuries are unknown.
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