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Scotland's sea birds in big decline after hard winter


wildlifeextra.com
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 11:52 UTC
Image
© Kaleel Zibe (rspb-images.com)
Guillemots have declined by 46%
Scotland's seabirds continue to struggle

The coldest spring in more than 50 years has taken a toll on Scotland's seabirds as early monitoring shows adult birds have arrived late for the breeding season and in poor condition.

Harsh winter

Harsh weather conditions earlier this year have added to the considerable long-term challenges seabirds face including lack of food due to the impact of climate change on the marine food chain, and poor management of human activities in the marine environment.

Kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills

Colony counts on RSPB Scotland reserves across the country from the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland to the Firth of Clyde, reveal a similar picture with species like kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills showing some of the steepest declines in number of birds present.
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Binoculars

Bird flocks black out Australia town


bbc.co.uk
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 11:41 UTC
Image

The galahs have been 'annoying the township for up to two months'
Thousands of birds have flocked to a town in Australia, causing power cuts and a mess, its mayor says.

Around 2,000 pink galahs and white cockatoos have descended on Boulia, Queensland, as a result of the drought, Mayor Rick Britton said.

They have been perching on power lines, causing outages when they take off, he said.

The birds may not leave until November when rain is due, he said, so "people are going to have to live with it".
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Cloud Lightning

'Backwards' U.S. storm moves from East to West across whole country: Kansas lashed by 100 mph winds, soft-ball sized hail


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 25 Jul 2013 08:22 UTC
As sunrise brings fresh light to the aftermath of strong storms in southern Kansas from Tuesday night, authorities are beginning to assess the toll. Hail as large as baseballs was reported in east Hutchinson, according to Reno County Emergency Management. Winds estimated as high as 100 miles an hour were reported in southern Reno County near Pretty Prairie. The town itself was hit hard by hail and strong winds, knocking down trees and blocking streets. "Please Please Please stay away from Pretty Prairie for now. They are not letting people into town at this time," a post on Reno County Emergency Management's Facebook page implored. A hail stone measuring 4.75 inches in diameter fell near Yoder in eastern Reno County and hail as large as tennis balls was also reported.

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Cloud Precipitation

Earthchanges: Unusual storm system moves backwards across continental U.S.


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 25 Jul 2013 08:31 UTC
Image
On July 14, a low pressure system that started in the Eastern United States retrograded under a ridge of high pressure to the north over the last couple of days. This storm system moved from east to west, which is extremely unusual for this hemisphere. We've seen these move east to west for a short period of time, but this one will make it to Southern California by the time it weakens. The upper level system is known as an easterly wave; however I'd like to call it a super easterly wave based on the distance it is going to travel. This particular system will have traveled from one side of the country to the other once it has stopped moving west, diving from there into Mexico, gathering up monsoonal moisture to be put into Nevada and Southern California later in the week into next week. Rainfall estimations across parts of Central Texas could be over 2-4″ of rain, with more rain (above 6+" possible in parts of South-Central Texas. Severe storms, including tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds will be possible from Texas, New Mexico, and parts of Arizona through the next few days. - The Weather Space
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Igloo

Brazil's 'largest snow in decades': Snow in over 80 cities, roads and schools closed


IceAgeNow.info
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 03:13 UTC
Image
The mass of polar air that passed through Argentina before coming to Brazil at the end of last week dropped snow in at least 87 cities of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

The cold wave, which reaches South, Southeast, Midwest, and up to two northern states of the country (Rondônia and Acre), is the longest in 13 years, according to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet).

"Should greatly disrupt agriculture"

"There were 17 days in all. Now, there are already seven days with temperatures below zero, and certainly this will continue until Friday, which should greatly disrupt agriculture, especially citrus plantations and lettuce, and bring problems health," says meteorologist Lucia Gularte of Inmet.

Among the places hit by the snow are two capitals: Curitiba and Florianópolis. In Curitiba, the record snow made on Tuesday by Simepar Meteorological Institute is the first since 1975.
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Igloo

Chile experiences coldest day of 2013

Ashoka Jegroo
The Santiago Times
Mon, 22 Jul 2013 02:59 UTC
Image
© Ashoka Jegroo / The Santiago Times
Santiago recorded its coldest day of the year Monday morning.
Record low temperatures hit Chile with many parts of Santiago experiencing temperatures below freezing Monday as fresh snow falls in the Andes.

Santiago and other cities were affected by record low temperatures during the past few days, with some areas reaching as low as 16.8 F (-8.4 C) Monday.

The south central area of Chile faced the coldest temperatures of the year on Monday with below-freezing temperatures expected to continue until Tuesday, according to the Chilean Meteorological Office (DMC).

Chilean students received a cold welcome back from their winter vacation as Santiago's lowest temperature of the year came in at 26.6 F (-3 C) in Quinta Normal at 6:56 a.m. Monday morning. Santiago saw a high of 55.4 F (13 C). Just outside of the capital, Lampa claimed the country's record low temperature of the year with shivering lows of 16.8 F (-8.4 C). Calera de Tango in the Valparaíso Region clocked in with a low of 25.5 F (-3.6 C).
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Cloud Grey

Mammatocumulus: fiery clouds over Iron Mountain


Fox News
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC

Eerie round, orange clouds were spotted over a Michigan town, making the sky appear "on fire" and leading residents to worry that wild weather was coming.

The bizarre sight formed in the skies over the Michigan town of Iron Mountain at around 8:30 p.m. local time, and led to worries that severe thunderstorms or tornadoes were approaching.

National Weather Service Warning Coordination meteorologist Jeff Last, who posted images of the curved, tinted clouds to Twitter, said they were a rare phenomenon called Mammatus, which means "breast cloud."

Mammatus, or mammatocumulus, clouds are often associated with severe thunderstorms, said Iron Mountain Daily News reporter Chris Tomassucci.

Comment: For more on the worlds strange weather events that many have never experienced, have a listen to SOTT Talk Radio: Climate Change, Food Shortages and the Future

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Bizarro Earth

Government declares mass dolphin die-off an unusual mortality event

Nadia Drake
Wired.com
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 12:37 UTC
Dolphins Die Off
© Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
Dolphins are dying in the Indian River Lagoon. Today, the federal government announced that it will help investigate the cause.
At least 54 bottlenose dolphins have died mysteriously in Florida's Indian River Lagoon since January. Today, the federal government is stepping in to help find out what's killing them.

In a normal year, that number would be closer to 22.

On July 24, NOAA declared the mass die-off an "Unusual Mortality Event" - a declaration that will send federal resources and scientists to help teams already on the ground in Florida. It's the lagoon's worst dolphin die-off on record, and the cause is mysterious.

"This has become a national investigation, instead of a local investigation," said Megan Stolen, a marine biologist with Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, the nonprofit organization that has been investigating and keeping track of the dolphin deaths so far. "This will definitely help us."

It's the second time this year that NOAA has declared an Unusual Mortality Event for marine mammals in the lagoon, a 156-mile-long estuary that runs along Florida's Atlantic coast. In April, a mass manatee die-off received the same designation.

This is the third time a UME has been declared for dolphins in the lagoon. What caused the others, in 2001 and 2008, is still a mystery.
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Igloo

Cold snap leaves six dead across Argentina


BuenosAiresHerald
Tue, 23 Jul 2013 15:25 UTC
Snpw in Argentina
© Buenos Aires Herald
Mendoza province experienced heavy snowfall as a consequence of the intense cold.
Recent polar temperatures that for the last five days have affected almost all of Argentina have left a tragic outcome: at least six people have died as a consequence of the cold in various parts of the country.

In Catamarca province, a 51-year-old man died of a heart attack caused by hypothermia, in his Altos de Choya home. In the Parque Norte Oeste district of Catamarca, meanwhile, a 19-year-old disabled youth also lost his life.

In the early hours of Monday morning Jose Romera, a homeless man aged 47, was discovered in the streets of Andresito, Misiones, and was pronounced dead also due to hypothermia.

In Salta, meanwhile, a three-year-old boy was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, a consequence of fumes from a heater which had been turned on to combat the intense cold.

Early morning temperatures in Buenos Aires dropped as low as 1.6°C, before rising to 10° in the afternoon. Similar numbers are forecast for Wednesday, before the rest of the week sees a slight increase in temperature.

In parts of Jujuy and Mendoza provinces, meanwhile, locals suffered with temperatures of up to -10°C.
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Bizarro Earth

Thousands of dead eels wash ashore in China

Tia Ghose
LiveScience
Wed, 24 Jul 2013 11:58 UTC
Cusk Eels
© University of Aberdeen
Feeding frenzy! Cusk eels, photographed 3.7 miles below the surface of the sea, swarm some tasty treats.
Tens of thousands of dead eels have washed ashore in China over the past few weeks.

The eel is just the latest animal to die en masse in China's waters. In March, thousands of dead pigs were dumped by farmers into the Hangpu River in Shanghai, and hundreds of dead ducks and fish have also turned up in Chinese waterways.

Although no one knows the cause yet, some suspect the China National Offshore Oil Company may be responsible, the website Quartz reported. That company is doubling its crude oil production.

But the company and local administrators say the eels died of natural causes. The company says ocean currents brought a confluence of low temperatures, low oxygen and high salt content that killed off the eels, the South China Morning Post reported.
      Read More...
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