Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Bangladesh: More rains ahead

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Heavy rains, caused by the active monsoon at different parts of the country, may prolong for one or two days more.

Bazlur Rashid, an official at the Met Office, told bdnews24.com on Friday that the active southwestern monsoon had created deep clouds over the North Bay.

The country's coastal areas, he said, might be affected by heavy winds due to the deep clouds.

The maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla were advised to keep hoisted local cautionary signal No 3.

Fishing boats and trawlers plying the North Bay were also advised to move cautiously until further instructions.

It is feared that tidal waves, surging 1-3 feet higher than usual ones due to the southwestern monsoon and the appearance of the new moon, could flood the coastal areas of Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Feni, Lakshmipur, Chandpur, Comilla, Bhola, Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna, Pirojpur, Jhalakati, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, and adjacent islands and chars, Rashid said.

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Storm pounds Chicago area with hail, causes power outages

Violent storms pelted the area with rain and golf ball-sized hail Thursday night, leaving more than 100,000 ComEd customers without power.

The "supercell" storm hit shortly after 9 p.m. The south suburbs had about 56,000 ComEd customers without electricity. About 16,000 customers did not have power in Chicago and near west suburbs.

The severe storm collapsed part of the roof at the conference center at Illinios Beach State Park and felled trees and snapped utility poles, knocking out power in Waukegan, Beach Park, Zion and Winthrop Harbor and as far north as Racine.

Bizarro Earth

Stunning Noctilucent Clouds Shine Brightly in the UK

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© Stu AtkinsonPanoramic view of Noctilucent Clouds from Kendal Castle in the UK.
Mysterious "night shining" or Noctilucent Clouds are beautiful to behold, and here are some gorgeous examples what skywatchers in the UK have been experiencing. Stu Atkinson took this stunning panoramic view from Kendal Castle. (Click image for access to a larger version). NLCs are usually seen during the summertime, appearing at sunset. They are thin, wavy ice clouds that form at very high altitudes and reflect sunlight long after the Sun has dropped below the horizon. Scientists don't know exactly why they form, and they seem to be appearing more and more in recent times.

Science writer Will Gater also had a great view of NLCs this morning. Click here to see his animation, or see more of his images and animations at his website post.

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© Will GaterNLCs seen over the UK on July 1, 2011.

Bizarro Earth

US: Heat index could hit 'dangerous levels' for 4th of July weekend

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© Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles TimesA woman uses an umbrella to get some relief from the heat next to city hall Thursday afternoon. Friday's temperatures are expected to climb reaching triple digits in the valley areas.
As the Fourth of July weekend approaches, weather forecasters are predicting that hot weather will hit the Southern California, with the heat index possibly approaching "dangerous levels," according to a statement from the National Weather Service.

Although temperatures along the coast are expected to be a few degrees above normal, inland temperatures will see the greatest increase, warming five to 15 degrees above normal, weather service officials said.

Temperatures for some locations in the Antelope Valley and San Fernando Valley were expected to hit or top the 100-degree mark, with daytime highs ranging between 100 and 110 degrees, according to weather service predictions. Some interior coastal foothill locations, such as the Hollywood Hills, might see temperatures top out in the 90s, forecasters said.

Cloud Lightning

US: Arizona residents affected by fires brace for floods

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© Josh Radtke/The Arizona RepublicWorkers reinforce a water-diversion canal along Campbell Road in Flagstaff on Wednesday. Last year, the Schultz Fire left the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peaks barren and prone to flash flooding.
While wildfires in Arizona this year have been destructive - charring nearly 1 million acres and destroying nearly 90 homes - they have not been deadly.

But the potential for tragedy and loss does not end when the flames are extinguished and wildland firefighters move on to battle their next blaze.

Last year, 12-year-old Shaelyn Wilson died not from the Schultz Fire, which burned more than 15,000 acres near Flagstaff, but from the flooding that tore through the burned-out area after a monsoon storm dropped an inch of rain in about 15 minutes nearly three weeks after the fire was contained.

Bizarro Earth

Jellyfish shut down British nuclear reactor

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© AFP/File, Antony DicksonA nuclear power station in eastern Scotland had to shut down its reactors after "high volumes" of jellyfish were found

London - A nuclear power station in eastern Scotland had to shut down its reactors after "high volumes" of jellyfish were found on its seawater filter screens, the operating company said Thursday.

"Both units at Torness power station were manually shut down on 28 June, due to the high volumes of jelly fish fouling the cooling water screens," said a statement from EDF Energy, which runs the power station near Dunbar.

It explained that the shutdown was purely a precautionary measure and insisted that "at no time was there a danger to the public", nor had there been any impact on the environment. The nuclear regulator had also been informed.

Extinguisher

US: Fire at Nebraska nuke plant injures worker

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A fire yesterday at an embattled Nebraska nuclear plant sent one worker to the hospital with severe burns, according to reports from local media.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that the incident occurred around 2 p.m. yesterday outside a security building on the grounds of the Ft. Calhoun nuclear plant, but that it was not near any of the reactors.

The worker was reportedly refueling a portable pump when it caught fire. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital with burns on his arms and face.

Extinguisher

Los Alamos Fire: More Firefighters Deploy in New Mexico, US

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© BBC
Officials from the Los Alamos National Laboratory say dangerous materials are safely stored

Hundreds more firefighters have been deployed to battle a wildfire near a top US nuclear weapons research lab in New Mexico amid concerns the blaze could reach radioactive waste.

Nearby residents have expressed concern about potential contamination if flames reach barrels stored outside.

But officials are confident the fire will not reach the drums and they say dangerous materials are safely stored.

The town outside Los Alamos National Laboratory was evacuated on Monday.

The laboratory has been closed since then and is not expected to open until Friday at the earliest, officials said.

The Las Conchas fire has now burned 110 sq miles (284.9 sq km), fuelled by dry timber and powered by strong winds. Smoke from the blaze can be seen as far away as Albuquerque 60 miles (100km) away.

Bizarro Earth

Dead Penguins Washing Ashore With Disturbing Regularity

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© elisfanclub / cc
Last week, several dozen dead and dying Magellanic penguins were discovered on beaches throughout south Brazil, apparent victims of an oil spill. So far more than 140 penguins have been transfered to animal care facilities to be cleaned and rehabilitated, while an untold number more have already perished from contaminated waters. If this fact alone weren't cause enough for concern, what's more troubling is that it's hardly an isolated incident. For the last ten years, with disturbing regularity, penguins have been washing ashore starving or covered in oil. And while the origins of these annual mass deaths remain officially a mystery -- one biologists believes he knows the sinister truth behind them.

Cloud Lightning

US: Falling Tree Kills Wisconsin Man in Severe Hail Storm

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© Abel Uribe/Chicago TribuneGolf ball-sized hail that fell in the Little Village neighborhood (Chicago) Thursday evening.
A powerful storm system raced through the upper Midwest Thursday night, killing a Wisconsin man when a tree collapsed onto his motorcycle, pelting Chicago skyscrapers with golf ball-sized hail and packing winds so strong they spun a grounded military cargo plane.

Several injuries were reported in Kenosha, Wis., where winds between 70 and 80 mph downed or damaged hundreds of trees and knocked out power to some 22,000 homes and businesses by early Friday, authorities said.

The 31-year-old man who died was riding his motorcycle on a local road at 8:12 p.m. CDT when he was struck by the tree, according to a news release from the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Two other residents were injured when they touched live electrical wires, and a woman was treated for a broken hip after she was struck by debris from a shed, authorities said.