Earth Changes
With summer merely days away it has begun to snow in Tasmania.
Footage shows snow falling in our southern most state late Wednesday afternoon has gone viral and left internet users stunned.
The footage was uploaded to the Tasmanian Rover Ski Club social media accounts as a possible last minute push for potential ski bunnies to flock to the slopes.
"It is only 7 days until summer though you would not think that on Ben Lomond late this afternoon," the post reads.
The footage has been viewed over 170,000 times since it was first posted.
The temperature today in Tasmania will reach a low of 7 degrees.
Tasmanians could be witnessing a new trend, the Apple Isle having been struck by out-of-season around the same time last November and again in February this year.
In stark contrast, neighbouring Victoria this week experienced severe thunderstorms, high winds, grassfires and a steep drop in temperature from a November record high - all in one day.
Perú
Sabancaya has been restless for the last two years, with periods of heightened activity and a return to quiet. However, it looks like the Peruvian volcano has entered a new phase of activity since early November. The volcano has produced dozens of explosive eruptions since November 6, when the renewed activity began.
This first explosion generated an M3.6 earthquake as well. Ash has reached 1.5-3.5 kilometers (4,900-11,400 feet) over the volcano and spread ash over 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the volcano on the people living across the area. The ash plumes (see below) have been some of the highest ever recorded at Sabancaya and video from the explosions show a vigorous plume of dark grey ash from the volcano.

The second earthquake in three days to hit off the coast of Fukushima province in Japan, this one reported as a 6.1 magnitude by the Japan Meteorological Agency, hit around 6:23 a.m. Thursday morning. It was felt in Tokyo, like the previous one, however no tsunami warning was issued and there have been no reports of injuries or damage to property.
The quake occurred about 6.30am (local time) on Thursday 37km south of Namie, according to the, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Five smaller earthquakes measuring between 4.6 and 3.2 magnitudes followed in quick succession within and hour and a half.
A sixth stronger earthquake measuring 5.2 in magnitude struck just after 9.30 am (local time) in the Tori-shima Kinkai region, which is an uninhibited island located about 600km south of Tokyo.
There have been no reports of injury or damage and no tsunami warning has been issued, according to Nine News.
A 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima on Tuesday, triggering a one metre tsunami.
Video obtained by Critica shows several houses sitting on a cliff disappearing as the ground beneath it collapses.
As the houses slowly sink down the cliff, those filming can be heard yelling and screaming.
Miraculously, houses on each side - which appear to be newer than those which sunk - remain intact.
The houses are in San Miguelito, a city which lies in the Panama Province - roughly 25km from the nation's capital.
Three deaths have already been linked to Otto in Panama.
Hurricane Otto is expected to intensify as it approaches Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
Japan's meteorologists do not exclude that by Friday morning, there could be up to two centimeters (almost one inch) of snow in Tokyo.
- U.S. could get a blast of cold from north to south in December
- MIT scientist's research contradicts prevailing U.S. forecasts
He's the father of the "Siberian Snow Theory." In a nutshell, he argues that the more snow covering the ground in northern Eurasia, the colder we can expect it down below. Sadly, Siberia is looking pretty white already.
Judah Cohen, a renowned MIT climatologist, has been working on this theory for 17 years, despite skepticism from some U.S. government weather experts. Cohen, who figures his theory has been right 75 percent of the time, spies all the makings of an early, cold winter.
"This year, we have had this very textbook situation," Cohen said.
Using a model to assess the economic and environmental value of GMO crops, agricultural economists found that replacing GMO corn, soybeans and cotton with conventionally bred varieties worldwide would cause a 0.27 to 2.2 percent increase in food costs, depending on the region, with poorer countries hit hardest. According to the study, published Oct. 27 in the Journal of Environmental Protection, a ban on GMOs would also trigger negative environmental consequences: The conversion of pastures and forests to cropland - to compensate for conventional crops' lower productivity - would release substantial amounts of stored carbon to the atmosphere.
Comment: Just how widely this study will be used to help influence people into accepting GMO's as being vital to lowering the global CO2 footprint remains to be seen. If the GMO industry can manage to market successfully their toxic agricultural products using anthropogenic global warming as a means, perhaps even Edward Bernays would have been very pleased and supportive of a marketing tactic such as this.
Many of the snakes showed signs of a severe skin infection on their heads and bodies just before they died. It was an early sign of a deadly fungal disease that is now sweeping through the snakes of eastern North America.
Today at least 30 species are affected. "Snake fungal disease" has been documented in more than 16 US states and in parts of Canada. How worried should we be?
Snake fungal disease generally begins with a relatively mild skin infection, often - but not always - where a snake's skin has been physically damaged.
The snake's immune system kicks into action, but within a few days the skin at the infection site has begun to thicken and die, creating a yellow or brown crust. In some cases this crust breaks off, exposing raw flesh and allowing the fungus to spread.
Eastern parts of the main island, Grande Terre, have been the worst hit, with the biggest landslides occurring in the municipality of Houaïlou, where at least 5 people have died and 3 are still missing.
President Hollande expressed his condolences to the families and relatives of the victims yesterday, and gave his full support to the inhabitants of New Caledonia. The President also acknowledged the work of the rescue teams who are fully committed to dealing with the situation.
Images of the landslide site show where a large parts of mountainside had collapsed, destroying everything in its path. A local commentator suggested that rivers and creeks have been blocked by mining waste, and mountainside eroded by bush fires and drought.
Police have confirmed a man spent a night in hospital after receiving bites to his arms, legs and torso after the dogs attacked him on a property north west of Koorda in the Wheatbelt.
Police said the man was attacked last week by up to six dogs while he was fencing on the property and was taken to the nearby Wyalkatchem Hospital where he was required to stay overnight as a result of the severity of his injuries.
The attack victim has since been discharged from hospital.
The Shire of Koorda is currently investigating the matter to determine whether the dogs were wild, and what to do with them.
Pastoralists and Graziers Association president Tony Seabrook said an attack was inevitable, but the news made his blood run cold.
















Comment: The signs are already here, with early snowfalls and cold records already being set: