Earth ChangesS


Attention

Man killed by wild boar and 9 injured in India


The New Indian Express
Sat, 07 Mar 2015 20:15 UTC
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The boar which was shot dead with the help of residents. (Inset) Abdul Salam who was killed by the wild animal
A man died and nine others sustained injuries in a wild boar attack near Koodaranji here on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Keelath Abdul Salam, 50, alias Abdu, a farmer and a resident of Kalpur. The wild boar was later shot dead with the help of the local residents.

According to the police, the wild boar attacked Abdul Salam at his farm land, around 9 am. Though he was rushed to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, he succumbed to injuries, the officials said.

The injured - Haseena, Vasu, Lalitha, Kunjumon, Sabu, Abu, Najeed and Abdullah - have been admitted to the hospital and their condition has been reported to be not serious.

Eye-witnesses said the animal first attacked Haseena on a road and later went on the rampage, attacking Abdul Salam and others.
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Attention

Dead Humpback whale washes ashore in Monterey, California


sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
Fri, 06 Mar 2015 20:00 UTC
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© CBSA young humpback whale carcass is washed ashore at Sunset Beach in Monterey, March 6, 2015.
A dead humpback has whale washed ashore on a Monterey beach close to where a second whale was seen swimming near the shore.

The whale turned up Friday morning at Sunset State Beach after being seen floating offshore Thursday night.

A marine biologist said it was a young whale about 45 feet long. It had no apparent signs of trauma on the carcass and was in the beginning stages of decomposition.

Biologists say it's not uncommon to see a humpback wash ashore. "It kind of comes in waves. Last year we had one humpback whale. Few years before that we didn't have any, one year we had two or three," said Robin Duncan, UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab operations manager.

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Fish

New mass fish death in Singapore

Carolyn Khew
The Strait Times
Sat, 07 Mar 2015 17:24 UTC
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© Lau Fook KongThousands of fish were found washed up on shore at Lim Chu Kang jetty on Saturday in the latest in a series of mass deaths.
Thousands of fish were found washed up on shore at Lim Chu Kang jetty on Saturday in the latest in a series of mass deaths.

Breeds big and small, including catfish and mullets, were discovered on the beach near where several fish farms are situated in the Strait of Johor.

Both sea and farm fish were affected.

Farmer Ong Kim Pit, 65, told The Sunday Times that he first saw fish jumping out of the water on Friday night, adding that his baby mullets were worst hit.

"It happened within minutes," he said. "My fish were jumping and jumping in the water. I don't know why."

Comment: See also: Mass death of marine creatures at Pasir Ris beach, Singapore

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Question

10,000 Band-tailed pigeons die over the winter in California, but cause remains unexplained

Edward Ortiz
The Sacramento Bee
Sat, 07 Mar 2015 16:14 UTC
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Band-tailed pigeon
An unexplained epidemic ravaging band-tailed pigeons in California has resulted in more than 10,000 of the bird's deaths this winter.

Dead birds have been found in 21 counties in California, including in the Sacramento region, marking one of the largest die-offs recorded. It's particularly troubling because the species reproduces at a lower rate than similar birds.

Researchers are at a loss to explain the cause, but they suspect that the multiyear drought and changes in acorn supply may be to blame.

The band-tailed pigeon is a common, medium-size, gray-feathered bird known for a white crescent on its neck and a long tail that sports a pale band at its tip. The bird is a relative of the passenger pigeon - a species once as common as the band-tailed pigeon, but now extinct.
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Snowflake

10 feet of snow falls in Majella, Italy

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Fri, 06 Mar 2015 15:19 UTC
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Snow in Abruzzo
So much snow that chairlifts are buried.

Bad weather in Abruzzo has brought exceptional accumulations of snow to the Apennines, with the Majella the most affected.

It snowed nearly three meters on Majella, on the Passolanciano-Maielletta site at 1,350meters.

Accumulations are even more significant at a higher altitude.

In one of the photos, you can see the chairlift submerged in an exceptional white blanket.

With so much snow, all ski resorts in the region plan to remain open long.

See photos and video:

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link

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Snowflake Cold

Balkans blizzards trigger landslides, leave thousands without power


Reuters
Fri, 06 Mar 2015 13:00 UTC
bosnia snowfall
A blizzard which dumped 2.5 meters (8 feet) of snow on mountains around Sarajevo has isolated dozens of Bosnian mountain villages and left them without electricity.
A man was killed in Bosnia and more than 100,000 homes across the Balkans were without electricity on Friday after blizzards brought down power lines and triggered landslides.

The Bosnian died when a tree, dislodged by a landslide, fell on his car near the central town of Zepce.

Dozens of motorists in southwest Bosnia were stranded by the snowstorm, which began on Thursday.

Authorities said more than 50,000 households were without power in Bosnia and over 30,000 in Serbia. Many in Bosnia were also without running water because electricity was cut to pumping stations.

"Teams are out in the field; they are facing heavy and wet snow and have to constantly remove broken trees that damaged power lines," Milovan Glisic, a Serbian electricity official, told Reuters.
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Snowflake Cold

Detroit, Michigan breaks 114-year old cold weather record


CBS News - Detroit
Fri, 06 Mar 2015 09:09 UTC
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© CBS
According to the National Weather Service, the low temperature Friday morning was zero degrees, breaking the old record of 2 degrees set in 1901.

It's one of many cold weather records we've broken this winter, according Accuweather Meteorologist Brian Thompson.

"It's the sixth record low that we've hit this year and most of them have occurred in the last few weeks," he said.

It's not going to get much warmer Friday, with highs barely reaching 20 degrees. But don't worry, temperatures will finally feel a little more like normal this weekend, with highs in the 40s and mainly sunny skies.

Here's the local forecast from the CBS Detroit weather team:

Friday: A mix of clouds and sun. High 24F. Low 19F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.

Saturday: Cloudy with snow showers mainly during the morning. High 39F. Low 28F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 40%.

Sunday: Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High around 40F. Low 27F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

Monday: Sun and a few passing clouds. High 43F. Low 29F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
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Black Cat

Cougar captured at Promenade mall in Temecula, California

Peter Surowski
The Press-Enterprise
Fri, 06 Mar 2015 20:45 UTC
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© Joe FanaselleA mountain lion lies sedated in the bed of a pickup truck in the Promenade mall parking lot in Temecula.
A mountain lion that wandered into the Promenade mall parking lot in Temecula was tranquilized for removal but died shortly after, an official said.

At least one witness called the Riverside County Sheriff's Department reporting the lion walking near the Macy's store early Friday morning, March 6. The sheriff's department called in a Fish and Wildlife warden who used an air-powered gun to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart, said Kyle Orr, a spokesman with Fish and Wildlife.

As officials were taking the adult male lion into the wilderness, it died, Orr said.

The cause of death is unknown and a necropsy is planned, but in general, when an animal dies after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, the two most common causes are damage done by the needle and a bad reaction to the drug, Orr said.

The animal was not acting aggressively but because the area is so densely populated by humans, removing it was a necessity, he said.
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Question

Aggressive badger shuts down hotel in Stockholm, Sweden

Ben Hooper
upi.com
Fri, 06 Mar 2015 18:19 UTC
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© Henrik Montgomery/TTAnother day, another badger. This one was spotted on the prowl in Solna, Sweden in 2009.
A luxury hotel in the Swedish capital was on lockdown early Friday due to "a crazy or stressed-out badger" refusing to let anyone near the door, police said.

Stockholm police said the badger was spotted near the entrance of the Radisson Blu hotel about 5 a.m. Friday and authorities were called when the animal acted aggressive toward anyone who attempted to get in or out of the building.

"A crazy or stressed-out badger is preventing the staff and clients at a major hotel from leaving their cars, and from picking up their bags," a report on the Stockholm Police website said.


Comment: See also: Badgers in shock attack on walker and dog in North Wootton, United Kingdom

More strange animal behaviour: Cyclist reports attack by badger in Swindon, UK

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Snowflake Cold

Indian Air Force rescues 220 civilians trapped by heavy snowfall in Kashmir


china.org.cn
Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:17 UTC
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Snowfall in Kashmir
Indian military said Thursday that Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 220 civilians including women and children trapped in a remote snowbound area of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The people, according to spokesman, were stranded in snowbound villages of Navpachchi and Sondar of Kishtwar district, around 275 km northeast of Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian- controlled Kashmir. "The Indian Air Force (IAF) airlifted as many as 220 people trapped in snow hit Kishtwar district on Wednesday," Indian military spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said.

"Braving piercing snow waves, and extreme cold conditions, IAF' s MI-17 Chopper in assistance with the local administration airlifted these people from the villages."

The villagers were stranded in these villages for past several days, following a heavy snowfall that cut off the road links to the area.

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