Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Strange 'pillars of light' in Michigan - it's 'diamond dust'

David Cassleman
Interlochen
Mon, 23 Feb 2015 09:45 UTC
Diamond dust light pillars
© NASA
Monday morning's low temperatures created a weather event in northern Michigan that you're more likely to see in the Arctic Circle.

Pillars of light filled the sky early in the morning from a phenomenon called diamond dust. It's a cloud formation made from ice crystals.

Justin Arnott - a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Gaylord - says diamond dust can take light from street lamps or traffic lights and refract it into light pillars.

"They can extend very far from a light source," Arnott says. "You can see the tops of them before you even know what's creating the light. So that can kind of make it surreal."

Arnott says the cause is tiny ice crystals from residual moisture.

"You're really seeing the impact of light as it encounters really small ice crystals in the atmosphere," Arnott says. "And it really tends to happen only when it's really cold. I mean well below zero before we see that kind of phenomenon."

Comment: In the last month, as well as this 'fairly rare' ice crystal cloud phenomena in Michigan, and the 'rare', bizarre 'portal to heaven' cloud formation in Turkey; 'strange sounds' were also heard in Philadelphia, and the aurora borealis, commonly referred to as the 'Northern lights' are being observed more frequently in more Southern locations.

Perhaps there is a correlation with the increasing comet/volcanic dust loading of the atmosphere, which is accentuating electric charge build-up?

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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude-6.4 earthquake rocks Northern Chile

Mark Leberfinger
AccuWeather.com
Mon, 23 Mar 2015 02:14 UTC
Putre Quake_230315
© USGS
A major earthquake struck early Monday morning in northern Chile.

The National Seismological Service at the University of Chile initially listed the temblor at a magnitude-6.3. The U.S. Geological Survey listed it as a magnitude-6.4.

The temblor's epicenter was located 48 kilometers (30 miles) east-southeast of Putre, Chile, at a depth of 128 km (180 miles), the USGS reported. It was near the borders with Peru and Bolivia, and occurred at 12:51 a.m. local time.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the region.

No tsunami was expected as a result of the earthquake, according to the Chilean Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service.

The earthquake was felt in Tacna, Peru, but it didn't affect the electrical system, according to the USGS and Twitter users.
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Snowflake

Spring arrives with wintry weather in east as celestial events punctuate the week

Michael Kuhne
Accuweather.com
Fri, 20 Mar 2015 00:00 UTC
To start the week, two large eruptions from the sun's corona occurred Sunday, which sparked a powerful solar storm.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a statement Tuesday warning that the geomagnetic storm could potentially impact power grids and GPS tracking.

The geomagnetic storm that resulted allowed the aurora borealis and aurora australis to ignite, providing stargazers with a spectacular light show.

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Moon

French coast hit with biggest 'tide of the century'


Sputnik
Sat, 21 Mar 2015 16:39 UTC
Image
© AFP 2015/ PHILIPPE HUGUEN
After the excitement of Friday's solar eclipse, thousands of visitors have flocked to France's coastal areas for the chance to see the biggest tide in 18 years.

Thousands of visitors made their way to coastal areas in Brittany and Normandy on Saturday morning to catch this year's spring tides, which are billed to rise as high as 14 meters above their usual level following Friday's solar eclipse, which saw the Earth, moon, and sun in alignment.

Referred to as the 'tide of the century' in the French press, the phenomenon actually takes place every 18 years; this week's is the first of this millennium, and follows exceptionally high tides seen on March 10, 1997.
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Bizarro Earth

Mexico City shaken by earthquake that struck more than 100 miles away

Scott Campbell
The Express
Sat, 21 Mar 2015 04:42 UTC
Mexico City locals flooded the streets after the quake
© ReutersMexico City locals flooded the streets after the quake
An earthquake that caused buildings to sway and forced people to flee onto the streets in the Mexican capital happened more than 100 miles away.

The quake hit at 4.30pm local time in the state of Puebla near Tulcingo del Valle - around 100 miles away from Mexico City.

But residents of the faraway capital were forced to flee shaking buildings.

The city is vulnerable to distant earthquakes because much of it sits atop the muddy sediments of drained lake beds that iggle like jelly when quake waves hit.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said many evacuations were reported in the capital but officials received no reports of damage or injuries.

The quake had a depth of 31 miles.

A magnitude-8.1 quake in 1985 that killed at least 6,000 people and destroyed many buildings in Mexico City was centered 250 miles away on the Pacific Coast.
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Attention

Elephant herd tramples man to death in Dhepapalli, India - third fatality in 15 days


The Times of India
Fri, 20 Mar 2015 21:09 UTC
Image
Elephant on a bad day.
A herd of elephants trampled Kasi Nath, 70, to death at Dhepapalli, 80 km from here, under Ganjam district's Sorada forest range yesterday.

Patra was going to catch a bus to Sorada when he confronted the wild elephants. He died on the spot, said divisional forest officer (DFO), Ghumusar South, R K Mallick. He said the kin of the deceased would get Rs 3 lakh as compensation in tune with government policy.

The herd also damaged maize crops. This was the third death in the district by elephants in last 15 days. A wild tusker crushed two persons to death at Dolaba, 40 km from here, near Digapahandi on March 4. While one died on the spot, the other succumbed to his injuries at MKCG Medical College and Hospital here the next day.
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Attention

Farmer killed by elephant near Gudalur, India


The Hindu
Fri, 20 Mar 2015 21:02 UTC
Image
Asian elephant.
A man was killed by an elephant near Gudalur on Thursday. Forest sources told The Hindu that the animal attacked Baapu Kutty alias Hamza (72),a farmer of Pakkanna, when he came out of his house early morning.

In the darkness, he failed to spot the elephant. People in the vicinity raised an alarm, but he did not hear them.

The elephant pushed him down before moving away.

The pachyderm was seen in the area a few times recently.

Nilgiris Collector P.Sankar handed over a cheque for Rs. three lakhs to the family of the victim. - D.Radhakrishnan
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Arrow Down

Dead gray whale found off Torrey Pines State Beach, California

Monica Garske
nbcsandiego.com
Thu, 19 Mar 2015 18:27 UTC
Image
© Thomas MelvilleA backhoe drops a whale carcass into a dump truck on the west side of Fiesta Island at about 3 p.m. Thursday, March 19.
A dead gray whale was found floating in the waters near Torrey Pines State Beach Thursday morning, San Diego Lifeguard officials confirmed.

The young whale -- measuring approximately 15 to 20 feet in length -- was discovered about 250 yards off the shore. Lifeguards confirmed the animal was dead when they reached it just before 10 a.m.

Aerial video showed dozens of birds hovering over the carcass, which was floating belly up in the water.

San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson said lifeguards were waiting to see if the whale would drift to the shore before beginning any recovery operations. Swanson said officials were trying to determine if the whale would wash up on a city or state beach in order to then decide who would then be responsible for getting rid of it.

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Attention

Security guard attacked by hippo in South Africa

Zunaid Ismael
news.iafrica.com
Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:15 UTC
Image
© AFPHippo in water.
A security guard at a KwaZulu-Natal game reserve cannot believe that he is still alive after he was attacked by a hippo while on patrol.

Bongani Makhanya said that he had been patrolling near the Paperbark Lodge at the Tala private game reserve just before his shift ended on Thursday morning, when the startled animal attacked him.

"I did not know that there was a hippo sleeping behind a tree when I walked by. My footsteps obviously disturbed the animal. It came straight at me and was after my head but I blocked it with my arm, so it bit that instead," Makhanya said in a TimesLive report.
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Wolf

Dog viciously mauls a two-year-old girl in Suwannee, Florida

Amber Vann
Suwannee Democrat
Thu, 19 Mar 2015 19:40 UTC
Image
UF Health in Gainesville.
A two-year-old girl was viciously attacked by a dog on Wednesday, March 18, marring her face and upper body with severe wounds that may require cosmetic surgery, according to reports. The attack happened near the intersection of 177th Rd. and 120th Rd. in Western Suwannee County. The girl, Marina Aldama, was treated by medics at the scene until she was life flighted to UF Health in Gainesville. She was in stable condition when she was transported, according to Public Safety Director James Sommers.

"It was a significant dog attack," said Sommers. "She will probably need cosmetic surgery to reattach everything. Her face, shoulders, upper torso, and back of the head were wounded."

According to a report from the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office, Marina was with her mother in a van with the side door open waiting for her father to get lunch around 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Marina was pulled out of the van and attacked by a dog, the report states. The attack was unprovoked, according to the report.
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