We're about to experience a "double El Niño" — a rare weather phenomenon that climatologists had warned about several months ago. That means two consecutive years of the concentration of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that brings West Coast storms, quiet hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and busy ones in the Pacific. The danger is that this could mean more than a few months of odd weather, but instead usher in a new phase of climate change. Last year was the warmest year on record; 2015 looks set to be even warmer. "One way of thinking about global warming from the human influences is that it's not just a gradual increase, but perhaps it's more like a staircase, and we're about to go up an extra step to a new level," says climate scientist Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Normally, the warm water from an El Niño spreads across the Pacific and cools as it evaporates. The increased moisture in the air leads to thunderstorms and tropical storms. That hasn't happened as much as anticipated over the last year. "The moisture in the atmosphere triggers a lot of thunderstorms and tropical storms, but in general that atmospheric connection has not been anything like as strong as we normally expect in El Niño events, and as a result, the warm water is sort of sitting there, and it hasn't petered out," Trenberth explains. "The energy has not been taken out of the ocean, and there's a mini global warming, so to speak, associated with that." What kind of temperature increase are we talking about? Trenberth says it could mean a rise of two- or three-tenths-of-a-degree Celsius, or up to half a degree Fahrenheit. The change could occur "relatively abruptly," but then stick around for five or 10 years. While those numbers may seem small, in the context of global climate, a shift of that magnitude could have devastating consequences.

A landslide Friday afternoon endangered three homes overlooking Puget Sound in Des Moines, damaging at least one of them. The homes were evacuated and no injuries were reported after the slide north of Saltwater State Park, South King Fire Lt. Jeff Bellinghausen said. The slide happened just before 4 p.m. along the bluff at 25100 8th Place S., according to South King Fire Department officials. A homeowner noticed the ground moving around 8:30 a.m. on Friday, and occupants were able to get valuables out of their homes before leaving. It wasn't until mid-afternoon that the man's backyard virtually disappeared. "Well it's awful of course, I hate to see it, I feel bad for the neighbors," Dorn Porter said. Most neighbors who live close by say they had no idea anything had happened until they saw emergency responders, and Air 4 hovering above their houses.

At 200-feet across, and 2000-feet down, it will take several days to figure out what caused the slide, and for the land to stop moving. South King County deputies say they'll be monitoring the area throughout the night, and more evacuations are possible. "They just seem to start, and bang, it's gone and it's over and you do what can to shore yourself up," Porter said. The area was already considered a "sensitive critical area," officials said. There have been smaller slides in the past, but nothing as extreme as Friday's slide. "We knew this wasn't something usual, wasn't a normal event," Elisa Dawn Harrison said. Harrison was at the park below when she caught part of the slide on camera. "I just feel bad for anyone who has to go through this." No injuries were reported, but the community worries what may come next. The back deck slid down a hill, and trees and dirt continued to fall down to the beach below. Crews were at the scene to assess the risk of further damage, Bellinghausen said. - Seattle Times

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake has hit northeast of the island of Crete, Greece, according to a preliminary reading by the US Geological Survey.

The tremor struck at 1:34 am local time on Saturday, with the epicenter located 83 miles (133 km) ENE of Iraklion, Crete, Greece.

There are no reported casualties but the quake was strong enough to worry locals in Crete and the neighboring Greek islands.

Earthquakes have historically caused widespread damage across central and southern Greece, Cyprus, Sicily and other neighboring regions. Last year a series of strong earthquakes on the island of Kefalonia damaged hundreds of homes and injured more than a dozen people.

Strong explosions continue to occur. An eruption at 08:20 local time this morning produced several pyroclastic flows that traveled down the western flank of the volcano.

There were at least six fatal wild elephant attacks last year in China, causing economic loss and some casualties, people.cn reports.

The improvement in ecological environment in recent years has largely stimulated the growth of wild Asian elephants, China's first-grade state protection animal. However, lacking enough food supplies and habitats, the wild Asian elephants are forced to flee to local farmland, inevitably causing damage to property.

In the past five years there were 37, 512 cases of wild elephant attacks with 54 casualties in Pu'er, south China's Yunnan Province.

Professor Chen Mingyong from the School of Life Sciences at Yunnan University said that failing to provide adequate food and habitats by local governments has attributed to the frequent wild elephant attacks.

Also many local governments were unable to compensate the victims promptly due to budget constraints and their unclear responsibilities defined by related law.

At least one person is dead and three others injured after deadly tornadoes tore through parts of Oklahoma on Wednesday. Two twisters were reported, with severe storms and hail also slamming the state.

One of the tornadoes originated near Tulsa before shredding through a mobile home park near Sand Springs. One person was killed during the event and several others were injured, with fire departments and rescue workers currently combing through the grounds and seeking any wounded survivors.

"Right now, rescue efforts are continuing and officers are aiding the injured and helping those who need immediate medical care," Maj. Shannon Clark of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office said to CNN.

Reports suggest that almost the entire park and its 50 mobile homes were destroyed by the tornado, though the amount of damage done to each home varies, local News On 6 reported. Of the three people confirmed to be injured, two of them are in critical condition.

In yet another incident of growing unrest of elephants towards man especially during temple festival venues across the state, a mahout was trampled to death by a provoked elephant at Kaipamangalam, here, on Thursday.

This is the third such killing by captive elephants in the state in less than a week. Earlier, two people, including a mahout, were crushed to death by rampaging elephants in Alappuzha.

In the latest incident, the tusker 'Pallathu Vijayalakshmanan' turned violent and killed its mahout Sivasankaran, 64, of Poovathinkal, Kinasherry, during a temple festival at Kaipamangalam. According to police, the elephant turned violent when the man atop the elephant was trying to climb down along with the 'kolam'.

This video clip posted on "YouTube" shows streets, yards and homes of the province covered with snow last Friday.


Here is a collection of photos taken from social networking sites showing mountains, hills and forest covered with snow.

Litter was the least concern of Jersey City residents opposed to trash in the streets when a garbage truck got stuck in a sinkhole early Wednesday morning, police said.

At 1:24 a.m., a garbage truck from Industrial Waste Management got stuck in a 4-by-2 foot sinkhole on Woodland Avenue between Lembeck and Greenville avenues, a police report says.

Oslo's bus system shut down, trams weren't running, some trains stood still and Norway's gateway airport at Gardermoen, north of Oslo, finally had to close. Warnings had been issued about Thursday's snowstorm, but it proved to be more than transport systems could handle.

The blizzard that began during the night and built up during the morning had dumped more than 40 centimeters of snow on the southern coastal town of Arendal by midday. Some areas reported more than 60 centimeters and it was still coming down. Streets that did get cleared were covered with slippery snow again within minutes.

At Oslo's main airport at Gardermoen, the snow was falling so thick and fast that the airport's army of plows were out in force trying to keep the runways clear, but without much luck. "And when we have plows on the runways, planes can't land or take off," airport spokesman Joachim Wester Andersen told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).