Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Hailstorms cause substantial damage to Spanish growers


freshplaza.com
Tue, 16 Jun 2015 13:57 UTC
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Damaged fruit
1,000 hectares of citrus, kaki and vegetables in the Region of Valencia

Last weekend's hailstorms in the Region of Valencia caused considerable damage to agricultural producers, after more than 2,000 hectares of fruit trees were affected in Lleida and another 700 in Aragon.

According to the first estimates of the Valencian Growers Association (AVA-ASAJA), a total of 1,000 hectares of crops have been affected, especially citrus, but also kakis and vegetables to a lesser extent.

The most affected area is that located between Manises and Ribarroja del Turia, especially the municipalities of Carasols, Llobatera and El Polvorín, with more than 500 hectares. In these places, the hailstones reached the size of tennis balls and in some cases caused the loss of up to 100% of the next citrus harvest, as well as damage to the trees.

The region of Marina Alta has also suffered the impact of the hailstorm, especially Sagra, Ràfol d'Almunia, Tormos, Orba, Benimeli and Sanet i Negrals, where citrus crops have suffered the worst damage.

In Ribera Alta, especially Rafelguaraf and L'Ènova, and La Costera, in Llocnou d'en Fenollet, some specific areas have also registered some damages, affecting up to 30% of the citrus crops.

To the impact of this hailstorm we must add that of the recent heatwave in the Region, which will result in a significant decline in production volumes for the next citrus season.

However, in other production areas where there was no hail, but only rainfall, the weather has been welcome to alleviate water shortages after prolonged drought.
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Cloud Lightning

Man on boat killed by lightning strike at Beaver Lake, Arkansas


thv11.com
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 13:04 UTC
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© KTHVA man is dead in Benton County after a lightning striked near his boat on Beaver lake. THV11.com June 14, 2015
The Benton County Sheriff's Office says a man on a boat was killed by a lightning strike on Beaver Lake.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Keshia Guyll told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the 22-year-old man was with his wife on a guided fishing boat when lightning struck about 4 p.m. Saturday. Guyll says the man later died at a Bentonville hospital.

His name was not immediately released.

Guyll says the boat was returning to a marina because it had started raining when the lightning struck.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ranger Alan Bland says the corps and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are investigating.

Source: AP
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Fire

Update: Alaska wildfire destroys 45 homes, menaces highway

Steve Quinn
news.yahoo.com
Tue, 16 Jun 2015 12:46 UTC
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© REUTERS/Mat-Su Borough/Stefan HinmanA structure is consumed by flames as an out of control wildfire burns near Willow, Alaska, in this picture courtesy of Mat-Su Borough taken June 14, 2015.
A fast-spreading Alaska wildfire has destroyed up to 45 homes and forced authorities to restrict traffic on a major highway connecting two of the state's largest cities, state officials said on Monday.

As many as 200 firefighters have been battling the 6,500-acre fire with more specially trained teams en route from the Lower 48 states, Alaska Forestry Division spokesman Sam Harrel said.

Crews have been attacking the fire on the ground and by air, getting help from the three Alaska National Guard Blackhawk helicopters, according to state reports.

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Health

2 children attacked by shark near Oak Island, North Carolina


wxii12.com
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 17:52 UTC
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Victims were 12-year-old girl from Asheboro, 16-year-old boy from Winston-Salem
Two Triad children lost at least part of one limb following apparent shark attacks about an hour apart at the same North Carolina beach Sunday afternoon.

A 12-year-old girl from Asheboro and a 16-year-old boy from Winston-Salem were injured off different parts of Oak Island, about 30 miles south of Wilmington. Both were flown to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, though both were in good condition as of Monday morning.

No names have been released.

The girl's left arm was amputated below the elbow, and one of the boy's arms was amputated below the shoulder, officials from New Hanover Regional Medical Center told NBC affiliate WECT. The girl also had tissue damage to her left leg.

Oak Island officials said both incidents happened when the victims were in waist-deep water about 20 yards offshore. Officials weren't able to confirm by Monday morning whether the same animal attacked both victims.

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Fish

Two-meter long tropical swordfish beaches itself on UK riverbank

Shanti Das
Daily Mirror, UK
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 17:36 UTC
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© SWNSWashed up: This swordfish was found on Severn Beach, on the mouth of the River Severn
A massive swordfish was found washed up on a British tidal riverbank - an extremely rare sight in the UK.

Beachcombers saw the majestic fish - which measured 6ft in length including its bill - struggling in shallow waters but could not save it.

Experts believe the fish travelled more than 1,500 miles to Severn Beach on the mouth of the River Severn in South Gloucestershire - all the way from the Mediterranean.

Nicola Hills, 39, from Severn Beach, found the swordfish with her husband Gary.

She said: "We were walking the dog and we saw this thing thrashing about in the water.

"The first thing I thought was 'what the hell is that?' I thought it was a shark or a dolphin or something."
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Fire

Rampaging wildfire burns 6,500 acres near Anchorage, Alaska

M. Alex Johnson
nbcnews.com
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 15:34 UTC
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© Alaska State Troopers The Sockeye Fire grew quickly late Sunday and early Monday.
Homes were being evacuated and fire crews from the lower 48 states were racing to a wildfire north of Anchorage, Alaska, that grew to 6,500 acres in just hours, authorities said early Monday.

The so-called Sockeye Fire, in the town of Willow, about 80 miles north of Anchorage, forced firefighters on the defensive as aircraft continually drop water and fire retardant Sunday night, the state Forestry Department said.

Residents began fleeing from a voluntary evacuation area covering both sides of a 15-mile stretch of the George Parks Highway. As of Sunday evening, more than 200 people had signed into one evacuation center near Talkeetna. But the total number of evacuations wasn't immediately available.

The fire was first reported at 1:15 p.m. (5:15 p.m. ET) as covering 2 acres and quickly grew. By 3 p.m. it had reached 80 acres, and by 6 p.m. it covered 1,077 acres along the western shore of Kashwitna Lake, the Forestry Division said. By 10:30 p.m., the fire had grown to 4,183 acres. Two hours later, it was estimated at 6,500 acres.

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Sheeple

Hundreds of sheep mysteriously die across Iceland


grapevine.is
Wed, 10 Jun 2015 08:56 UTC
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© Runar Snær Reynisson - RÚV Hundreds of sheep have died across the country
Hundreds of sheep in Iceland have died off, and no one seems to know the exact cause. Research is currently underway to find the culprit.

RÚV reports that the deaths have hit especially hard in Borgarfjörður in west Iceland, Eyjafjörður in the north, and across east Iceland. The wide area over which the deaths are occurring - as well as the alarming rate at which sheep are dying off - has many farmers worried. In some cases, half of entire flocks have been lost.

Svavar Halldórsson, chairperson of the National Association of Sheep Farmers, told reporters that he believes disease may be to blame. As such, he and other farmers have begun taking blood samples from ill sheep to be analyzed by the National Veterinary Authority.

More specifically, MBL reports that bad hay may be killing the sheep.

Svavar has no exact figures on how many sheep have fallen so far, but told reporters that the deaths have "been a heavy weight on our farmers, to miss so many animals."
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Bizarro Earth

'Blizzard' of mayflies swarm bridge in Pennsylvania

Ryan Robinson
Lancaster Online
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 23:12 UTC
Mayflies
© Blaine ShahanSwarming Mayflies caused the closure of the Rt 462 bridge between Columbia and Wrightsville late Saturday.
The Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna River between Columbia and Wrightsville reopened Sunday after mayflies forced its closure Saturday night, police said.

Thousands and thousands of mayflies swarmed the lights on the Route 462 bridge, died and fell to the road, causing three motorcycle crashes, a fire official said. The coating of dead mayflies (also called shadflies) was about an inch thick.

At 10:30 p.m., a motorist stopped at the Wrightsville Fire Department station and reported an eastbound motorcycle had crashed on the Wrightsville side of the bridge, Wrightsville Fire Chief Chad Livelsberger said. Firefighters encountered a surreal scene.

"It was like a blizzard in June, but instead of snow, it was mayflies," Livelsberger said. Dead mayflies about an inch thick covered a large section of the bridge.

"It was very slick, almost like ice," the chief said. "It was hard to stop, in the engine and the vehicles." Livelsberger's pickup truck skidded to a stop. "When you go to pull out, all your tires would do was spin."

The black mayflies are close to 2 inches long and a quarter-inch wide, Livelsberger said. "It looks like a meal worm with wings."
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Sun

Cosmic rays reaching Earth increase 10% in just one month as Solar activity continues decreasing


Space Weather
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 19:55 UTC
For the past month, solar activity has been low. The last big burst of solar activity happened on May 5th when an X2-class solar flare erupted from the sun's eastern limb. Since then ... quiet. To investigate the effect of low solar activity on the atmosphere, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have been launching helium balloons at ~weekly intervals. Equipped with X-ray and gamma-ray sensors, the balloons measure ionizing radiation all the way from ground level to the stratosphere. Here are the results:
Increased Cosmic Rays
© SpaceWeather.com
During the past month of low solar activity, ionizing radiation in the stratosphere has increased by 10%. This may seem counterintuitive, but there is a simple explanation: The radiation we measure is dominated by cosmic rays--a mix of subatomic particles, X-rays and gamma-rays that come from outside the solar system. Explosions on the sun (especially CMEs) tend to push these cosmic rays away from Earth. During the past month, however, there have been relatively few CMEs. Fewer CMEs means more cosmic rays. Yin-yang.

Cosmic rays are an important form of space weather. They matter to anyone who steps foot on an airplane. According to NASA, a 100,000 mile frequent flier will absorb a dose of radiation equivalent to 10 chest X-rays--all from cosmic rays. Cosmic rays have also been linked to cloud cover, lightning, and they may play some role in climate change.

If the sun remains quiet, cosmic rays could increase even more. Stay tuned for updates from the stratosphere.
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Beaker

DDT: The gift that keeps on giving?

Bob Musil
huffingtonpost.com
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 19:37 UTC
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Chemical-polluters
The DDT manufactured back in Rachel Carson's day, recent reports indicate, is still killing robins and other birds. The Velsicol Corporation that produced it is the company that threatened Rachel Carson with a lawsuit if she dared to publish her environmental health classic, Silent Spring, in 1962. Carson ignored the threats and helped spark the modern environmental movement. Velsicol continued to manufacture DDT, dieldrin, and other nasty pesticides now banned until they closed and were later taken over by the EPA in 1981.

The Velsicol legacy today is a series of toxic Superfund sites, in and around St. Louis, Michigan, north of Lansing, that are still killing robins over fifty years after Silent Spring. Recent findings from the EPA covered in a new report from Environmental Health News show that a nearby elementary school and neighborhood homes have levels of DDT harmful to birds. And they may also pose health risks to children. Although EPA sampling to date has not found levels in playing fields that are considered harmful to kids, some neighbors' yards have shown amounts of DDT that are hazardous to humans. Erring on the side of caution, the EPA is digging up the fields at St. Louis' TS Nurnberger Middle School and removing its DDT-contaminated dirt.

Comment: See also: Birds in central Michigan are dying due to decades-old DDT pollution

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