Earth ChangesS


Attention

Black bear attacks man in Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico

Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times
Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:59 UTC
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Standing black bear.
A black bear attacked a 55-year-old man Monday afternoon in the Lincoln National Forest east of Capitan, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish said Tuesday.

The man was searching for antler sheds in thick brush when he surprised the bear, which then charged at him. The man received deep scratches to his chest and a bite to a leg before the bear ran off into the woods, the Department of Game and Fish said in a news release.

The injured man used a two-way radio to call his search partner, officials said. The two walked to their vehicle and drove to the Lincoln County Medical Center in Ruidoso. The man was treated at the hospital and released.

The attack occurred near the Baca Campground off Forest Service Road 57, officials said. On Tuesday, Game and Fish officers were looking for the bear so it can be tested for rabies.
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Comet

England night sky lit up by rare noctilucent clouds above Newcastle, Country Durham and Northumberland

Richard Gray
The Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 03 Jun 2015 10:10 UTC
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  • A photographer captured the rare phenomenon in the skies above Newcastle, Country Durham and Northumberland
  • It is caused by tiny ice crystals that form clouds in the mesopause and scatter the twilight from the summer sun
  • Noctilucent clouds are normally only visible in the weeks around summer solstice in more northerly latitudes
Rare clouds high in the Earth's atmosphere turned the night's sky a vivid blue yesterday as summer sunlight was scattered by tiny ice crystals.

Pictures captured in northern England show the midnight skies illuminated with an electric blue colour.

The phenomenon was caused by rare noctilucent clouds - extremely small ice crystals that form in the mesopause - that sit more than 47 miles (75km) above the Earth's surface.

These clouds, which are the highest in the Earth's atmosphere, scatter the sunlight as it dips low in the sky, creating an eerie glow.

They usually occur in the weeks around the summer solstice when sunlight dips just below the horizon to illuminate the clouds.

Comment: Noctilucent clouds were also captured a couple of days ago near Minsk, Belarus:

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© www.reddit.com/user/eugenegg


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Sun

Europe sees hottest day of the year in early-season heat wave


The Extinction Protocol
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 15:35 UTC
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© Weather Underground
Parts of Europe are sizzling on Friday as an early-season heat wave sweeps across the continent. The heat is not particularly intense or dangerous, but it's pretty early the season for temperatures of this magnitude in northern Europe. Late-afternoon highs were surging into the low 90s, particularly in the Rhine River Valley in southwest Germany and eastern France.

Temperatures are steaming at as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average for this time of year. Accuweather's Eric Leister says that some cities, including Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, are seeing their hottest temperatures of the year thus far. The heat and humidity was fueling a line of showers and thunderstorms that's tracking east across northern Europe, with potential to impact the French Open on Friday evening.

The heat wave has likely reached its peak on Friday afternoon, though above-average temperatures will continue to spread south across Europe on Saturday into Sunday, but will regulate to highs closer to normal by early next week. Reuters reports that while the heat is making the tourists sweat in Paris, they don't necessarily mind the brilliant blue sky.
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Sun

Highest daytime temperature in the world recorded as heat wave spreads from Pakistan to the Gulf

Rob McElwee
Al Jazeera
Wed, 03 Jun 2015 12:41 UTC
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© ReutersDealing with a heatwave in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Temperatures hit 50C in United Arab Emirates as heat spreads across the Middle East

The highest daytime temperature in the world on Wednesday was recorded at Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, where the temperature climbed to 50.5C at 12pm local time.

The UAE has recently been enduring a heat wave, which started many thousands of kilometres away.

A week ago, while India was suffering an official heat wave, it was hotter still in the middle of Pakistan. In the Indus Valley, temperatures were daily at 48C and 49C.

Nawabshah, north of Hyderabad, registered at least 49C for four days in a row. May 24 saw the highest temperature of Pakistan's heat wave: 49.5C in Nawabshah.

This heat did not just go away, it has been blown gently south, through the Indus delta, over Gwadar, into the Arabian Sea. Indeed, as June came in, Gwadar's temperature shot up ten degrees to 48C for two days in a row.

This hot air, loaded with dust which is visible by satellite, has now reached Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Temperatures here have risen three to five degrees since the start of June.

On Wednesday, Khasab, Sunayah and Fahud, all in Oman, each measured 49C. This looks like a record-equalling high for Khasab, on the Musandam peninsula. This region is known as Oman's 'Norway of Arabia', with its fjord-like inlets and cliffs overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.

The UAE's heat wave also affected Ras al-Khaimah, recording two successive days at 47C, while Sharjah notched up 46C and the city of Dubai 45C.
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Windsock

Waterspout caught making its way across 18-mile stretch of highway in Key Largo, Florida

Troy Blevins
local10.com
Fri, 05 Jun 2015 08:24 UTC
Severe weather that passed through Key Largo around noon Friday produced a waterspout caught on camera.
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The photo of the waterspout was taken by the folks at Extreme Nature on Instagram (@ExtremeNature).

The waterspout was caught on camera making its way across the 18-mile stretch of U.S. Route 1.

It dissipated after about five minutes
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Arrow Down

2 cars in landslide plunge on the Otago Peninsula, New Zealand

Myles Hume
stuff.co.nz
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 15:00 UTC
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© nzvegaA section of Highcliff Rd had slipped away as the motorists made their way through the area
Barry McCone has evaded tree branches and wandering stock on the winding route home from work before, but nothing prepared him for his latest encounter.

A claw hammer was used to smash a rear window and free the Milton prison officer from his Ford Falcon, which was one of two vehicles that rolled off Highcliff Rd and into a deep hole caused by a landslide on the Otago Peninsula on Wednesday night.

"I was coming home from work, it was raining still quite heavily and it was foggy. I know that road pretty well, I came around the corner and the next thing I was tipping over, I didn't know what the hell was going on."
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Arrow Down

Cement truck partly swallowed by sinkhole in Saskatoon


globalnews.ca
Wed, 03 Jun 2015 14:22 UTC
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© Derek Zary A morning delivery in Saskatoon didn’t go according to plan after a cement truck fell into a sinkhole.
It was a sinking feeling for a morning delivery man in Saskatoon. A cement truck went through a sinkhole in a back alley on Mackie Crescent.

Derek Zary captured the moments afterwards on video.

Zary told Global News the fully loaded cement truck arrived around 8 a.m. Wednesday to make a delivery when it went through the sinkhole.

A crane had to be called in to lift the truck out of the hole - an operation that took three hours. Crews also had to deal with underground power lines, but power to the area did not have to be shut off.

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Binoculars

Swainson's Thrush from North America turns up on Welsh island in June


skokholm.blogspot.co.uk
Wed, 03 Jun 2015 13:30 UTC
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Swainson's thrush on Skokholm
Given the lack of fat reserves observed when the Swainson's Thrush was ringed yesterday (it had after all just flown across the Atlantic), it was perhaps no surprise that the bird was still present this morning. The fantastic news was that it was happily feeding in the dense shrubbery of the Farmhouse Courtyard.

We had read that Swainson's Thrushes often select favoured perches to which they periodically return, and so it has turned out to be. Approximately every 40 minutes or so the bird has been returning to the same area of dappled sunlight and cleaning its bill on the branches. Although it has occasionally been pursued by the resident Blackbirds (which have just fledged their young in to exactly the same area), it has generally been unmolested by our local birds.

Given that the bird is showing predictable behaviour, is in an area where a group of birders can observe from a distance without disturbing the bird or Skokholm's fragile habitat and as there is something of a weather window tomorrow, we have decided to press ahead with a twitch.

Despite the clear skies prevalent tonight, the bird has found good feeding and must still be relatively light.

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Cloud Grey

Fog bank rolls in over the sea towards Grand Manan coastline, Canada


youtube.com
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 13:02 UTC
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Fog bank
Fog bank rolling in over the sea towards Grand Manan coastline

Watch a fog bank in action rolling in over the sea towards Grand Manan Island coastline.


Comment: See also: Fog bank gives illusion of tsunami wave off New Jersey

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Boat

Yangtze ship disaster: 396 confirmed dead, investigation continues as local fisherman disputes cyclone explanation


BBC
Sat, 06 Jun 2015 07:53 UTC
Eastern Star boat
© Getty ImagesMost of the bodies were recovered when the ship was turned upright on Friday

The death toll from the Chinese ferry disaster now stands at 396, the authorities say, as emergency workers search the vessel in the Yangtze River.

The ship, the Eastern Star, capsized in a storm on Monday and was turned upright in an operation on Friday.

Just 14 of the 456 passengers and crew are known to have survived. More than 40 are still missing.

The tragedy looks set to be China's worst shipping disaster in more than 60 years of Communist rule.

Eastern Star boat
© ReutersThe ship was held in place by cranes as it was turned over
Hooks were welded onto the ship and a net stretched around the entire structure in order to lift it by crane.

Most of the bodies retrieved were inside the vessel. State TV says the focus of the recovery operation is the top and bottom decks of the ship.

By first light on Friday, the ship could be seen lying on its side with its name visible just above the water.

Officials said there had been no further signs of life inside the ship, Xinhua news agency reports.

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised a thorough investigation into the cause of the disaster, after angry relatives protested at the scene.

Authorities tightly controlled access to the site, leading family members and journalists to complain about a lack of information.

Comment: The investigation into this terrible tragedy continues, and police have detained the captain and chief engineer for questioning, but an initial probe found the ship was not overloaded and had enough life vests on board.

Survivors have said the ship capsized "incredibly fast" and "within a minute". The captain Zhang Shunwen, and chief engineer Yang Zhongquan both reportedly the vessel was caught in a 'freak storm' and one passenger described it as tilting at a "45-degree angle" before going down. This was backed up by meteorologists in China who confirmed that a "sudden, strong and violent" storm hit the area at the time of the incident.

However a local fisherman Feng Xianming, who saw the ship passing upstream, said that 'although the weather was bad, it was not a cyclone', and his riverside shack 'wouldn't have survived if there had been a cyclone'.

Pending further evidence, it seems that whatever did happen to the Eastern Star on Monday night, it was very intense and very localized.

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