Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Chinese wheat crop devastated by rain and cold

Niu Shuping and Naveen Thukral
Reuters
Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:14 UTC
Image
© Reuters/China DailyA farmer piles wheat up after a harvest in Zouping county, Shandong province, June 20, 2013
China's wheat crop has suffered more severely than previously thought from frost in the growing period and rain during the harvest, and import demand to compensate for the damage could see the country eclipse Egypt as the world's top buyer.

Interviews with farmers and new estimates from analysts have revealed weather damage in China's northern grain belt could have made as much as 20 million tonnes of the wheat crop, or 16 percent, unfit for human consumption. That would be double the volume previously reported as damaged.

Higher imports, which have already been revised upwards on initial damage reports, will further shrink global supplies and support prices, fuelling new worries over global food security.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday raised its forecast for China's imports in 2013/14 to 8.5 million tonnes from 3.2 million tonnes in the previous year, prompting U.S. wheat prices to rally to more than two-week highs.
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Bizarro Earth

'Body in Thames' at Richmond was giant catfish

Amy Dyduch
This is Local London
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 16:06 UTC
Dead Catfish
© Chiswick RNLI Big fish: The RNLI inspected the carcass.
Richmond police officers were called to reports of a dead body in the Thames only to discover it was a giant catfish.

Richmond MPS sent a message out on Twitter on Monday, July 15, which read: "Police were called to a body in the River Thames, it was established that it was actually a very large Catfish."

Other users of the social networking site responded to the message.

Frances Perrow wrote: "Should've gone to Specsavers." A user named Bramble Jelly posted: "My thoughts go out to the Catfish's family."

It is rare for catfish to be spotted in the Thames because they are not native to the river but some species of catfish are among the largest freshwater fish in the world.
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Bizarro Earth

Mt. Reventador: Eruption intensifies at second Ecuadorean volcano


The Extinction Protocol
Wed, 17 Jul 2013 15:49 UTC
Scientists say lava flow and ash and gas emissions have intensified at a second Ecuadorean volcano, Reventador, as the full-bore eruption of the Tungurahua cone continues. Ecuador's Geophysics Institute says the lava flow on Reventador's southern flank has increased since Saturday but poses no immediate threat to villagers in the region 60 miles (100) kilometers) east of the capital, Quito. The 11,400-foot (3,475-meter) volcano is nearly three times that distance from Tungurahua to the southwest. It has been roaring since Sunday, when 200 people were evacuated from its flanks and one pyroclastic blast was heard as far away as the coastal city of Guayaquil. Tungurahua is 16,480 feet (5,023 meters) high and has been active since 1999. Reventador had its last big eruption in November 2002. - Big Story
Image
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Map

'Major' sinkhole opens in Dorchester County, South Carolina

Mark Davenport
live5news.com
Mon, 15 Jul 2013 12:14 UTC
sinkhole SC
Another sinkhole has cropped up in the Lowcountry, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

SCDOT spokesman Bob Kudelka said a washout closed Wire Road in Dorchester County on Monday. Wire Road is located about half a mile from the Orangeburg County line in Reevesville.

On-site SCDOT engineer David Pilch said the first warning of a sinkhole came Sunday night on a call by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Pilch says when his crews arrived in the morning, the sinkhole was five feet wide and several feet deep. Those measurements changed early in the afternoon when Kudelka reported the sinkhole grew to 10 feet deep and seven feet wide.

Monday morning both lanes of Wire Road were closed.
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Question

Mystery as 300 stingrays are found washed up on Mexican beach


Mail Online
Wed, 17 Jul 2013 11:59 UTC
stingrays mexico
Beached: Stingray carcasses litter the shore of the Chachalacas beach near the town of Ursulo Galvan on Mexico's Gulf Coast
Mexican authorities are investigating the death of at least 300 stingrays found on a beach of the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

Residents and visitors first spotted the dead rays on Tuesday on the Chachalacas beach in the town of Ursulo Galvan and posted photos on social media.

Ursulo Galvan Mayor Martin Verdejo says it's possible the stingrays could have been abandoned by fishermen after being trapped in their nets.

Upon realizing they were unlikely make much profit from their sale, they simply emptied their nets along the beach.

Others say the dead came rays were washed ashore by the waves at sunrise.
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Red Flag

Mysterious animal die-off around the world in July 2013 - bees, whales, fish


strangesounds.org
Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:13 UTC
In the following article, you will find a compilation of animal, mammal and fish die-offs around the world. Keep safe and care about the environment.

Three killer whales found dead near Fraser Island off the Queensland coast (Australia) - SMH, NINMSN, SKY NEWS

A third killer whale carcass has been found by wildlife rangers at Fraser Island, off the southern Queensland coast. The whale was discovered late on Friday in a creek north of Kingfisher Bay on the island by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service staff. The discovery comes two days after two whales, believed to be a mother and calf, died on Wednesday when their pod became stranded on a sandbar in the Great Sandy Strait which separates the island from the mainland.


Hundreds of bluefish surfacing dead in and around Shinnecock Bay (New York) - HISZ

Hundreds of bluefish are turning up dead off the coast of Long Island - and nobody knows why.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - W of Chivay, Peru


US Geological Survey
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 23:25 UTC
Chivay Quake_170713
© USGS
Event Time
2013-07-17 02:37:42 UTC
2013-07-16 21:37:42 UTC-05:00 at epicenter

Location
15.635°S 71.773°W depth=6.6km (4.1mi)

Nearby Cities
18km (11mi) W of Chivay, Peru
88km (55mi) NNW of Arequipa, Peru
148km (92mi) NE of Camana, Peru
151km (94mi) WSW of Ayaviri, Peru
399km (248mi) WNW of La Paz, Bolivia

Technical Details
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea


US Geological Survey
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 19:10 UTC
PNG Quake_160713
© USGS
Event Time
2013-07-16 09:35:54 UTC
2013-07-16 19:35:54 UTC+10:00 at epicenter

Location
6.309°S 154.782°E depth=44.3km (27.5mi)

Nearby Cities
77km (48mi) W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
84km (52mi) W of Arawa, Papua New Guinea
353km (219mi) SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
520km (323mi) E of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea
666km (414mi) WNW of Honiara, Solomon Islands

Technical Survey
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Arrow Down

Louisiana sinkhole depth exceeds estimates official says


The Town Talk
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:14 UTC
sinkhole
© Gerald Herbert/APTexas Brine, Inc. spokesman Sonny Cranch highlights work being done to remediate the approximately 22-acre sinkhole, seen behind him, last month in Bayou Corne.
An Assumption Parish official says the deepest part of the 22-acre sinkhole near Bayou Corne is at least 500 feet deep, and not between 110 to 220 feet deep that has been estimated by Texas Brine.

John Boudreaux, director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security, said previous depth reports released by Texas Brine Co. may have been inaccurate because the company's sonar did not penetrate debris fields inside the sinkhole.

The swampland hole emerged last August after a Texas Brine salt dome cavern failed deep underground. That failure forced the evacuation of 350 residents for almost a year.

Comment: Watch here as a local attempts to measure the depth of the sinkhole... and runs out of line!



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Cloud Lightning

Huge storm brings hail, multiple tornadoes to Saskatchewan, Canada

Lauren Strapagiel
Canada.com
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 16:47 UTC
Storm
© BRYAN SCHLOSSER/Regina, Leader-PostDark clouds as the storm passed near Regina, Sask. on Monday, July 15, 2013.
It was a wild day of weather yesterday in parts of Saskatchewan as a large storm cell made its way through the province.

Much of the southern part of the province were put on alert with tornado and severe thunderstorm watches through the afternoon and evening. Although it wasn't quite as "Oklahoma-style" as Weather Network chief meteorologist Chris Scott predicted on Twitter, it sure packed a wallop.
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