Earth ChangesS


Attention

Dead whale washes up in Hartlepool, UK

The removal of a dead whale found on a beach in Hartlepool earlier this week has been described as a “complex operation” that requires a “specialist company.”
The removal of a dead whale found on a beach in Hartlepool earlier this week has been described as a “complex operation” that requires a “specialist company.”
The whale was first spotted on the Headland, in Hartlepool, on Sunday, September 22, and experts believe it to be a Minke, the smallest of all baleen whales.

Hartlepool Borough Council has been working with a number of organisations to find a safe way to remove the whale from the beach.

A spokesperson for the council said: "The council has been working with a number of partner organisations over the last few days to secure the safe removal of the dead whale from a beach on the Headland.

"Due to the sheer size of the whale and its location, this will be a complex operation that requires a specialist company.

"This is likely to take a number of days and in the meantime we would ask that people stay away from the whale's body."


Snowflake Cold

Latest winter predictions are starting to align onto a specific Winter scenario for U.S., Canada and Europe

polar vortex prediction 2024
A projected position of the polar vortex for Winter 2024-25
A look at the very latest Winter 2024/2025 forecast data shows the growing influence of a weak La Niña phase. Seasonal prediction systems are slowly aligning and starting to point to a specific weather scenario for the upcoming Winter season, but past forecasts issued in September were often too warm over the United States.

The global weather system has many large-scale and small-scale driving factors. The main factor this year will be a weak La Niña event in the Pacific, but we also expect the Polar Vortex to play a larger role in mid-Winter.

Cold La Nina growing

La Niña is a cold phase of the large and powerful oceanic ENSO oscillation. It is a region of the tropical Pacific Ocean that shifts between cold and warm phases. The cold ENSO phase is called La Niña, and the warm phase is called El Niño.

These ocean temperature anomalies (warmer or colder) occur in specific regions of the Pacific Ocean, as shown in the image below. The main region is 3.4 and is also the main area where we determine what phase is active and how strong it is.

Hardhat

Large hailstones rain down on the town of Chajarí, Argentina

Large hailstones fell in the towns of Chajarí and Villa del Rosario
Large hailstones fell in the towns of Chajarí and Villa del Rosario
A huge hailstorm in Argentina!

This morning, the town of Chajarí in the Entre Ríos province of Argentina was shaken by an impressive storm in which incredibly large hailstones rained down.

Houses, vehicles and agricultural land in the city received serious damage.


Arrow Down

15 die in Indonesia mine collapse after heavy rain causes landslide, 25 missing

A mining location in Solok, West Sumatra, reportedly experienced a landslide that buried dozens of people.
A mining location in Solok, West Sumatra, reportedly experienced a landslide that buried dozens of people.
A landslide at a gold mine in western Indonesia has killed at least 15 people and left 25 missing, the local disaster agency said on Friday.

The landslide hit a remote site in West Sumatra province on Sumatra island on Thursday evening after heavy rain in the area, said provincial disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Ilham Wahab.

"The information we can provide was that a landslide occurred at a gold mine last night, causing several people to be buried. Efforts to search for the victims are ongoing," he said.

Ilham added that three people were injured and 25 were still missing.

Irwan Efendi, the head of the provincial disaster agency, said rescuers must trek eight hours to get to the site, which is inaccessible by road. He added: "The victims are the residents who manually mine for gold."


Doberman

Man killed after being attacked by dog in Dunklin County, Missouri

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A man is dead after being attacked by a dog in Dunklin County, Missouri.

According to the Dunklin County Sheriff's Office, on Wednesday, September 25 at around 3:41 p.m., deputies were dispatched to 203 W. Mulberry Street in Cardwell in response to an animal-related call.

Deputies received information that a 72-year-old male had fallen to the ground and could not get up. A dog had attacked him and he appeared to be unresponsive.

While deputies were en route, Dunklin County Communications updated the deputies with information that first responders were on the scene but were unable to get access to the victim due to the presence of multiple aggressive dogs.

Seismograph

Shallow 6.3-magnitude quake strikes near Mauritius

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An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 struck in the Indian Ocean near the island-state of Mauritius, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said on Thursday.

The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to preliminary data.

Indonesia's Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics warned that the earthquake "may be capable of generating a tsunami affecting the Indian Ocean region."

Windsock

Hurricane Helene becomes 'nightmare' storm with 'unsurvivable' storm surge ahead of Florida landfall

Hurricane Helene
© NOAA via APHurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico, Wednesday, Sept. 25 2024
The National Hurricane Center has upgraded fast-moving Hurricane Helene to a Category 2 storm, with forecasts expecting further intensification to Category 3 or higher before it makes landfall on Florida's northwestern coast this evening.

Early Thursday, Helene was churning about 350 miles southwest of Tampa, moving north-northeast at 12 mph with maximum sustained winds in excess of 90 mph.

"Helene will make landfall along the Florida Big Bend coast this evening as a Major Hurricane. While exact impacts will be heavily dependent on the track, expect catastrophic wind damage across the Big Bend and into southern Georgia," NHC wrote in an overnight forecast.

Tsunami

At least 4 people dead after heavy rains flood Mumbai, India - 5 inches of rainfall in 5 hours

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Mumbai, India's financial capital, experienced severe flooding after receiving over 250mm of rainfall in just five hours, prompting authorities to issue a red alert and declare a holiday for schools and colleges across the city and nearby districts.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast further heavy rain in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and Raigad, with the red alert remaining in effect until Thursday morning.

The torrential rain, among the heaviest recorded in September since 2020, caused widespread flooding in areas like Andheri, Chembur, and Vikhroli. Transportation was severely impacted, with major traffic disruptions and the halting of central railway services, leaving many commuters stranded. At least 14 flights were diverted, and 36 were canceled at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.


Butterfly

Lowest number of UK butterflies ever recorded during summer of 2024 due to wet weather

The common blue butterfly has had one of the worst summers on record for the count
© BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION/IAN A KIRKThe common blue butterfly has had one of the worst summers on record for the count
A butterfly conservation charity has declared a national butterfly emergency after fewer winged insects than ever were spotted in its annual count this summer.

The Big Butterfly Count is a nature survey organised by the wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation that takes place in the UK each year.

It involves volunteers spending 15 minutes outdoors to count how many butterflies they see, and what they look like, to help give the charity a better picture of how butterflies are doing on the UK.

The results of this year's Big Butterfly Count saw the lowest number spotted in the survey's 14-year history, with more than 9,000 reports not seeing a single butterfly.

Butterfly Conservation has called on the government to declare an emergency after publishing their findings.

Comment: This from The Guardian at the end of July:
Butterfly numbers are the lowest on record in the UK after a wet spring and summer dampened their chances of mating.

Butterfly Conservation, which runs the Big Butterfly Count, sounded the alarm after this year's count revealed the worst numbers since it began 14 years ago.

Many people have noticed the lack of fluttering insects in their gardens. Experts say this is due to the unusually wet conditions so far in 2024. Climate breakdown means the UK is more likely to face extremes in weather, and the natural rhythms of the seasons that insects such as butterflies are used to can no longer be relied on.

The UK had its wettest spring since 1986 and the sixth wettest on record, as an average 301.7mm (11.87in) of rain fell across March, April and May, nearly a third (32%) more than usual for the season.



Eye 2

Huge python grabs woman as she's doing dishes, squeezes her for 2 hours in Thailand

Arom Arunroj, 64,
© APArom Arunroj, 64, was cleaning up in her kitchen just outside Bangkok on Tuesday night the massive python wrapped itself around her torso.
A Thai woman somehow survived a terrifying encounter with a huge python after the 16-foot snake wrapped itself around her waist as she was doing dishes — and then squeezed her tightly for two hours.

Arom Arunroj, 64, was cleaning up in her kitchen just outside Bangkok on Tuesday night when she felt a sharp pain in her thigh and looked down to see a massive python taking hold of her, Thailand's Thairath newspaper reported.

"I was about to scoop some water and when I sat down it bit me immediately," Arunroj told the outlet. "When I looked I saw the snake wrapping around me."

"I grabbed it by the head, but it wouldn't release me," she continued. "It only tightened."

The snake continued to coil around Arunroj's waist until she could no longer stand, forcing her to prop herself up against the kitchen door as she screamed for help.