The climate is changing, but it's not changing the way the climate change crowd predicted it would. Nature has made a mockery of global warming, so who are the real climate deniers?
Earth Changes
The climate is changing, but it's not changing the way the climate change crowd predicted it would. Nature has made a mockery of global warming, so who are the real climate deniers?
Leslie McFarlane, a wildlife disease coordinator with Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, reports say that besides the 40 dead birds, there are five others in rehabilitation centers.
McFarlane says the number of dead eagles should start to drop off as the spread of infection appears to have slowed.
Wildlife officials first started finding the birds on Dec. 1 with head tremors and signs of weakness and paralysis.
They were not sure what was killing the animals until last week, when they received test results.
They suspect the animals contracted West Nile by eating dead aquatic birds that were infected with the disease.
Source: AP
The deep freeze in the US causes an unusual sight on the shores of Lake Michigan as huge ice boulders wash onto beaches
The polar vortex which has gripped North America in sub-zero temperatures has brought with it a natural phenomenon on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Huge, basketball-sized balls of ice have been washing up by the lakeside town of Glen Arbor in Michigan.
Meteorologist Joe Charlevoix explains that they are formed when "the water temperature on the Lake Michigan is just a little bit below freezing, so you get a small piece of ice that forms in the water and as waves move back and forth it adds additional water and freezes in layers.
"It gets bigger and bigger, and eventually you get big balls of ice, that are pushed to the shore by the wind."
Locals call them "ice balls" or "ice boulders" and they are a regular feature of Winter in the Great Lakes.
Huge, basketball-sized balls of ice have been washing up by the lakeside town of Glen Arbor in Michigan.
Meteorologist Joe Charlevoix explains that they are formed when "the water temperature on the Lake Michigan is just a little bit below freezing, so you get a small piece of ice that forms in the water and as waves move back and forth it adds additional water and freezes in layers.
"It gets bigger and bigger, and eventually you get big balls of ice, that are pushed to the shore by the wind."
Locals call them "ice balls" or "ice boulders" and they are a regular feature of Winter in the Great Lakes.
New study paints dire picture and outlines conservation needs
Lions may soon disappear entirely from West Africa unless conservation efforts improve, a new study predicts.
The study, published January 8 in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE, presents "sobering results" of a survey that took six years and covered 11 countries.
Lions once ranged from Senegal to Nigeria, a distance of more than 1,500 miles. The new survey found an estimated total of only 250 adult lions occupying less than one percent of that historic range. The lions form four isolated populations: one in Senegal; two in Nigeria; and a fourth on the borders of Benin, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Only that last population has more than 50 lions.
© Pete Oxford, Nature Picture Library/Corbis
Lions in South and East Africa, like this male cat in Botswana, are better known than their cousins in West Africa, which tend to be smaller and are now highly endangered.
Lions in South and East Africa, like this male cat in Botswana, are better known than their cousins in West Africa, which tend to be smaller and are now highly endangered.
The study, published January 8 in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE, presents "sobering results" of a survey that took six years and covered 11 countries.
Lions once ranged from Senegal to Nigeria, a distance of more than 1,500 miles. The new survey found an estimated total of only 250 adult lions occupying less than one percent of that historic range. The lions form four isolated populations: one in Senegal; two in Nigeria; and a fourth on the borders of Benin, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Only that last population has more than 50 lions.
Even as the nation is busy conducting the third synchronised national tiger census across the country, the death toll due to poaching tells a grim tale, with this year's figures showing highest number of tigers killed in the last seven years.
According to Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), 39 tigers have fallen prey to poachers so far in 2013. The NGO, which works with government enforcement agencies throughout the country to fight poaching, states that this year's toll has surpassed last year's figure of 31, and also the previous high of 37 in 2006. However, the figure is strictly conservative as it does not take into account the confessions of poachers arrested by Maharashtra officials, which would take the toll to 51, crossing the highest ever recorded figure of 46 cases of poaching registered in 2005.
Additionally, WPSI also informs that the overall tiger deaths, including road accidents, natural deaths, electrocution, natural territorial conflicts besides poaching cases, is 76 so far in this year. However, the National Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex tiger conservation authority in the country, puts the toll at a much lower figure of 64.
NTCA officials say that the difference in data could be due to the delay in communication of figures from states as they often learn about tiger deaths quite late. An example of this is the NTCA figures of five cases of confiscation of tiger parts in 2013. However, this figure skips the three poaching cases involving seizure of tiger parts that were registered in Maharashtra.
Additionally, WPSI also informs that the overall tiger deaths, including road accidents, natural deaths, electrocution, natural territorial conflicts besides poaching cases, is 76 so far in this year. However, the National Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex tiger conservation authority in the country, puts the toll at a much lower figure of 64.
"Our data is based on field inputs and is correct," states Program Manager of WPSI, Tito Joseph.Speaking about the discrepancy between the two figures, Inspector General with NTCA, H. S. Negi, said that the NTCA and WPSI data on tiger deaths generally do not differ. For example, both NTCA and WPSI had recorded 89 tiger deaths in 2012.
NTCA officials say that the difference in data could be due to the delay in communication of figures from states as they often learn about tiger deaths quite late. An example of this is the NTCA figures of five cases of confiscation of tiger parts in 2013. However, this figure skips the three poaching cases involving seizure of tiger parts that were registered in Maharashtra.
© Claudio Reyes/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke fills the air above Santiago as wildfires rage.
Smoke fills the air above Santiago as wildfires rage.
Smoke from dozens of nearby forest fires have blanketed the Chilean capital, leading authorities to issue a health alert.
The fast-spreading fires reached a peak over the weekend. They have caused more than $100m in property losses and forced the 7 million residents of Santiago to breathe the worst air in 15 years.
On Wednesday, strong winds carried a thick blanket of smoke over Santiago, where 40% of Chileans live. Firefighters have been struggling with the blazes as the wind has reignited several of them.
President Sebastian Piñera announced the health alert for four regions at a press conference late on Wednesday. Piñera said the more than 70 forest fires over the past weeks had affected more than 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of land.
Stuart Gillespie was investigating a strange noise coming from the vent when the baby reptile dropped through the roof onto the bathroom floor
A New Farm Loch man had a frightening start to the new year when a snake fell through his bathroom vent.
Stuart Gillespie was investigating a strange noise coming from the vent when the baby reptile - named Lou by the SSPCA - dropped through, falling six feet onto the bathroom floor.
Stuart's partner Jan Bryan said: "I was at the front door saying bye to my daughter on January 2, when I heard Stuart shouting that there was a snake in the bathroom.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Stuart was chalk white.
"I refused to go upstairs until it had been removed, but my daughter's partner managed to get a couple of pictures.
"It's not what we were expecting at new year, but it will be one we'll never forget."
The family, of Grant Place, were advised by the SSPCA to check with neighbours to see if anyone was missing a pet snake.
© Kilmarnock Standard
The snake found in the bathroom
The snake found in the bathroom
Stuart Gillespie was investigating a strange noise coming from the vent when the baby reptile - named Lou by the SSPCA - dropped through, falling six feet onto the bathroom floor.
Stuart's partner Jan Bryan said: "I was at the front door saying bye to my daughter on January 2, when I heard Stuart shouting that there was a snake in the bathroom.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Stuart was chalk white.
"I refused to go upstairs until it had been removed, but my daughter's partner managed to get a couple of pictures.
"It's not what we were expecting at new year, but it will be one we'll never forget."
The family, of Grant Place, were advised by the SSPCA to check with neighbours to see if anyone was missing a pet snake.
© Chris Baine
Chris Baine found this 1.5m snake in his toilet bowl. He tried to grab it but the reptile slithered down the S-bend. It came back, so he flushed it away. Now's he's worried.
Chris Baine found this 1.5m snake in his toilet bowl. He tried to grab it but the reptile slithered down the S-bend. It came back, so he flushed it away. Now's he's worried.
A 1.5m carpet python was curled up in the toilet bowl, but that was not the end of the story.
Despite his wife Carly's advice to leave it alone, Mr Baine tried to grab the serpent with a towel before it disappeared down the bowl.
"It was about 11.30pm when Chris went to the bathroom, we had both used it an hour before and there was nothing there so it was a complete shock," Mrs Baines said.
"When he lifted the lid he screamed out "holy s**t, come and look at this" and I said no way, not until you tell me what it is.''
Mrs Baines, who works at a veterinary hospital, called her boss to make sure they had identified it correctly.
"He told us to try to use a hook shaped implement to take it out, but Chris decided to go with a towel and a pair of garden gloves,'' she said.
But the saga did not end there. The python reappeared early the following morning when Mrs Baines went to the bathroom.
The source of canine distemper virus among tigers, lions and red pandas is the direct contact like licking.
The scientists at Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly found the presence of CDV in the blood samples of dead animals.
"Since last one year we have found many blood samples of dead tigers, red pandas and lions, who were positive for CDV. The disease has been found in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Patna Zoo and many areas of West Bengal and Darjeeling," said AK Sharma, principal scientist and in charge of Centre for Wildlife, IVRI.
CDV affects different systems of the body including nervous and respiratory system in these animals. It breaks down the immunity system and causes various secondary bacterial infections which leads to their death.
"As this disease damage the brain, it badly affect their decision making power. Due to this, the animals go beyond their natural habitat and enter human settlements. It leaves them an easy prey for poachers," Sharma said.
The source of CDV among tigers, lions and red pandas is the direct contact like licking. Even these animals are eating dogs infected with the virus. The disease is also spreading through infected material such as drinking water from same source. Sharma said, "If all the dogs are vaccinated in the buffer zone of forest, it could stop the spread of disease."
Researchers believe that many more species could have been exposed to this virus in the country. "We can say about the status of disease only after we collect blood samples of different species of animals from various areas of India," said Gaya Prasad, assistant director general, animal health, Indian Council of Agriculture Research and acting director, IVRI.
© Tom Bateman/The Canadian Press
Derailed train cars burn in Plaster Rock, N.B., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.
Derailed train cars burn in Plaster Rock, N.B., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.
"On our balcony, we can just see flames. Every now and then, there's a huge fireball, as if there was an explosion," said Carol Jarvis, who lives in the village of Plaster Rock near where the derailment occurred around 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Jarvis lives about five miles from the site of the train derailment, which happened in Wapske, about five kilometres outside the village of Plaster Rock.
"There's several sort of fireworks, explosions there now. We saw there was in fact a fairly large fire."
Another Plaster Rock resident said that her husband went down to the scene shortly after it happened.
"He went as far as he could. It was blocked off," the woman said. "He said he could see flames shooting in the air from quite far away. He could see it very clearly. It was about 50 to 60 feet he told me he could see."
Plaster Rock Mayor Alexis Fenner said residents have been told not to get near the scene.
She said three fire services and a hazmat team are on scene.
The mayor of Plaster Rock has confirmed the train derailment, but other reports of fire and/or injuries are still unconfirmed. #nb
- Emily Baron Cadloff (@EmilyBat) January 8, 2014
