Earth ChangesS


Black Cat

Mountain lion captured on camera in Hollywood


The Telegraph, UK
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:09 UTC
National Geographic has released amazing new images of a cougar living near central Los Angeles

The mountain lion, named P22 by scientists, was discovered accidentally by a camera trap, which had been set up to monitor wildlife in Griffith Park in Hollywood.


Biologist Miguel Ordenana found a photo of the creature whilst checking one of the camera sites.

"I was kind of tired and had been in the sun a lot so I was like, ok let me just refreshed my eyesight - and yes it was still a mountain lion in front of my face".

Since the sighting, National Geographic wildlife photographer Steve Winter has spent a year waiting for the perfect shot of the animal. He finally captured the following breathtaking images of the cougar with the Hollywood sign and city of Los Angeles in the background.

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© Steve Winter/ National Geographic
His best images are due to be published in the December issue of the National Geographic magazine.

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© Steve Winter/ National Geographic
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Ice Cube

Global warming? Winter superstorm hits half the U.S. as millions are warned to prepare for the worst storm in a decade with temperatures dropping to MINUS 40


Daily Mail UK
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:11 UTC
A wintry storm pushing through the western half of the country is bringing bitterly cold temperatures that prompted safety warnings for residents in the Rockies and threatened crops as far south as California. The jet stream is much farther south than normal, allowing the cold air to push in from the Arctic and drop temperatures by 20 to 40 degrees below normal levels, AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines said on Tuesday.

Areas of Montana and the Dakotas were forecast to reach lows in the minus-20s, while parts of California could see the thermometer drop to the 20s. The icy, 'Polar Express' blast was expected to be followed by another one later in the week, creating an extended period of cold weather that hasn't been seen since the late 1990s, meteorologists said.

Officials warned residents to protect themselves against frostbite if they are going to be outside for any length of time. 'When it gets this cold, you don't need 30, 40 mile-per-hour winds to get that wind chill down to dangerous levels. All it takes is a little breeze,' Kines said.

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Additional images
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Snowflake Cold

UAH Global temperature, down slightly, "the pause" continues

Roy W. Spencer
Watts up with that
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 07:57 UTC
The Version 5.6 global average lower tropospheric temperature (LT) anomaly for November, 2013 is +0.19 deg. C, down from +0.29 deg. C in October (click for full size version):

UAH satellite based temperature
© Roy W. Spencer
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Cloud Lightning

Heavy wind, rain and snow batters Greece - downing trees, cancelling ferries and causing power blackouts

Ioanna Zikakou
Greek Reporter
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 07:09 UTC
Image
© ethnos.gr
Many areas in Athens, Greece are without electricity today, due to the abrupt weather change and the strong winds that started Monday evening.

In Piraeus, Rafina, and Lavrio in Attica, as well as in the Rio-Antirio crossing in Western Greece, ferry boats have been forbidden from leaving the port for several hours.

The routes to Aegina from Piraeus, to Andros, Tinos and Myconos from Rafina, and to Tzia from Lavrio, have been cancelled and port authorities believe there is a possibility that further sea routes will be cancelled due to the recent forecasts that the weather will worsen over the course of the day.

In Attica, the Fire Department received more than 230 telephone calls in the early hours of Tuesday to report fallen trees and branches, requesting their removal, while a tree fell on two parked cars near the train station in Menidi, Attica.
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Hardhat

Kamchatka's Shiveluch volcano spews ash cloud 9 km high


Voice of Russia
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 05:58 UTC
Kamchatka
© RIA Novosti
Kamchatka
The Shiveluch Volcano erupting in Kamchatka has spewed ash nine kilometers high, the Kamchatkan territorial emergency situations department reported on Tuesday. No ashfall has been reported from towns nearby.

"The volcanic event occurred on Tuesday afternoon. The ash cloud stretched northwest, bypassing populated areas," the report said.

No ashfall has been reported from towns nearby, it added.

Nevertheless, rescuers advised tour operators to avoid paths around the volcano, for which a red alert has been issued.

Shiveluch is the northernmost active volcano of Kamchatka situated 45 kilometers away from the town of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatsky district with a population of approximately 5,000.

It is also one of the largest Kamchatkan volcanoes. Shiveluch became active in May 2009 and got a fissure that is almost 30 meters deep in its dome.
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Igloo

Southern Alberta digging out from massive winter storm

Chris Epp
CTV News
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 03:27 UTC
Alberta snowstorm
© Unknown
The blizzard that hit Calgary may be over, but residents are now left to dig themselves out from the mounds of snow left in the storm's wake.

The city declared a snow route parking ban would begin Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., which would allow crews to begin cleaning up Calgary roads.

The parking ban is the first of this season and only the fifth issued in the last three winters. City officials estimate Wednesday's ban will affect about 60,000 people across Calgary.

In the past, parking bans were issued only when there was an accumulation of five centimetres of snow or more, said Julie Yepishina-Geller, spokesperson for the City of Calgary

"But that's been changed this year in the bylaw, so now it's just a significant accumulation, so we basically are reserving parking bans for the few times a year where we actually do see really significant snowfalls," Yepishina-Geller told reporters.

Comment: Comment: Interesting prediction: "...colder but shorter winter...". Maybe they are not going to count this snowstorm as part of winter as it is officially only fall.

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Cloud Lightning

Russian volcano Klyuchevskoy sends pillar of fire 1,000 meters into the air


The Extinction Protocol
Tue, 03 Dec 2013 09:44 UTC
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© Marc SzeglatKlyuchevskoy
With a pillar of fire stretching up into the clouds, this spectacular image captures the moment a volcano erupted in remote Russia. The stream of lava rose up to a kilometer above the summit of Klyuchevskoy, one of the active volcanoes on the Kamchatka peninsula in the east of the country. The volcano, which erupts around every two years, is one of the largest on-land active volcanoes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It stands at 15,584f t on the north end of a belt of 30 active volcanoes.

Comment: From the recent chain reaction on the 'Ring of fire':
Kliuchevskoi on the Kamchatka Peninsula: Kliuchevskoi on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia had a busy weekend after its busy week - and a lot of the action was caught on the webcams pointed at the volcano or by satellite. For much of Friday and into Saturday (October 18-19), the volcano continued to produce some vigorous lava fountains and lava flows, mixed in with Strombolian explosions that sent bombs down the slopes of the volcano. This activity was significant enough to cause some aviation alerts even over the western Aleutian Islands.
Source: Why have 10 major volcanoes along the Ring of Fire suddenly roared to life?

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Bizarro Earth

Another European river turns 'blood' red overnight, this time in Slovakia!

Sara Malm
Mail Online
Tue, 03 Dec 2013 20:42 UTC
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Rumours were rife in a Slovakian town this week when a river running through turned bright red.

The river in Myjava, a small municipality on the border to the Czech Republic, had changed colour over night and turned into 'blood'. Police have been called in to investigate the matter, but it is believed to be a faulty filtering system from a slaughterhouse upstream.

Roman Podbrezova, 65, had gone for a morning walk when he saw the drastic change to the river which runs through the centre of the town.

'I just could not believe my eyes,' he said. 'The river was dark red. It was like something from a horror film. Blood cascading through the centre of town.'

Comment: Note that no source is provided for the claim that "a faulty filtering system from a slaughterhouse upstream" was responsible for the river turning red. The local police meanwhile have a different opinion on what caused it, while other residents have theirs...

We wonder if this is related to all those other instances of lakes, rivers, seashores, lagoons, ponds and canals turning blood red the world over in recent years?

River turns blood red overnight in The Netherlands, 01 Nov 2013

Waters at Bondi Beach, Australia turn blood red, 28 Nov 2012

Yangtze River turns red, 07 Sep 2012

Lebanon: Beirut River mysteriously runs blood red, 16 Feb 2012

Texas Lake Turns Blood-Red, 01 Aug 2011

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Snowflake Cold

Arctic Plunge: Winter storm wallops Rockies, Plains, 2 to 3 feet of snow on the way

Daniel Arkin and Elizabeth Chuck
NBC News
Tue, 03 Dec 2013 17:00 UTC



Winter storm Cleon is heading toward the Pacific Northwest and, besides bringing chilly temperatures and cold winds, is expected to drop 2 to 3 feet of snow.

A winter storm dropped 30 inches of snow in Idaho Tuesday, and is forecast to bring temperatures well below zero elsewhere in the country as the week goes on.

Frigid temperatures swept across the northern Rockies and the northern Plains on Tuesday, and heavy sheets of snow are likely in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and swaths of North Dakota. Parts of nine states were under winter storm warnings; nine other states were under various levels of advisories for current or future wintry precipitation.

Snow accumulation was racking up by Tuesday afternoon. By 3 p.m. ET, 30 inches of snow had fallen in Idaho's Saddle Mountain, and 22 inches had fallen north of Two Harbors, Minn. Stuart Mountain in Montana received 20 inches. Duluth had gotten 14 inches of snow and was forecast to receive another foot-plus as the flakes continued to fall.
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Snowflake Cold

Arctic plunge: Up to eight inches of snow to sweep parts of Britain

Nathan Rao
Daily Express
Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:48 UTC
Cars in snow
© GettyForecasters say the cold weather is going to kick off on Thursday

An "Arctic plunge" is set to trigger freezing temperatures this week and could bring snow across much of Britain by Friday.

Severe gales are expected to sweep in from the North and cause blizzards on high ground.

This could be only the start of a particularly bad winter with below-­average temperatures and heavy snow for three months, warn forecasters. They say the blast of cold air could see the mercury dip to -13C (9F) overnight in the North, bringing eight inches of snow with wintry showers as early as tomorrow and heavy snow forecast for Wednesday.

It will feel bitterly cold in the South with night temperatures of -7C.
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