© YouTube/Ryan Canty
Frozen ocean at Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, Massachusetts 7th January 2018.
Frozen ocean at Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, Massachusetts 7th January 2018.
Earth Changes
© Reuters
A green sea turtle.
A green sea turtle.
Scientists researching the impact of climate change on one of the world's largest sea turtle populations have found that turtle eggs, laid on warmer beaches along the north-east coast of Australia, can produce animals almost entirely of the female gender.
Scientists say it's down to rising temperatures prolonging the incubation process which in turn leads to more female offspring.
The researchers, including scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Queensland Department of Environment, are warning the trend could have a dire impact on the future of the species.
© USGS
The powerful quake, which was felt in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, struck some 36km northeast of Great Swan Island around 2:51am GMT, according to US Geological Survey.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued multiple tsunami advisories for the shoreline of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where it said there are threats of "fluctuations and strong ocean currents that could be a hazard along coasts ... beaches ... in harbors ... and in coastal waters."
Waves up to one meter above tide level are also possible in Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Belize and Jamaica, the PTWC warned, adding that earthquakes of this size are "known to generate tsunamis dangerous to shorelines near the source."
Comment: Update 10 Jan 2018, 0600: EST
This is probably the largest quake ever recorded in the Caribbean Sea. From earthquaketrack.com:
This map depicts the general location of the sixteen weather and climate disasters assessed to cause at least one billion dollars in direct damages during 2017.
During 2017, the U.S. experienced a historic year of weather and climate disasters. In total, the U.S. was impacted by 16 separate billion-dollar disaster events including: three tropical cyclones, eight severe storms, two inland floods, a crop freeze, drought and wildfire.
2017 ties 2011 for the highest number of billion-dollar disasters for a single year. 2017 arguably has more events than 2011 given that our analysis traditionally counts all U.S. billion-dollar wildfires, as regional-scale, seasonal events, not as multiple isolated events. In 2017, the U.S. experienced several wildfire episodes that each exceeded $1 billion in losses in central and southern California (i.e., the Tubbs, Atlas and Thomas Fires). The only other year - again, since 1980 - in which the U.S. experienced multiple, separate billion-dollar wildfires was 2003: the Cedar and Old Fires, also in California.
ANSWER: We are looking at an unbelievable decline in the energy output of the sun which appears to be the most rapid decline in nearly 10,000 years. The Global Warming crowd may be setting society up for mass famine and death because they are deliberately pointing everyone in the opposite direction to get their portion of the $1 billion grants. Natural disasters are the most disastrous when the energy output of the sun declines. There has been a fatal interaction of ecological, agricultural, economic, and political factors that seem to be setting the stage for at least a repeat of what is known as the Great Famine of 1315-1317. The Great Famine started with bad weather in spring 1315. Crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer harvest in 1317, and Europe did not fully recover until 1322. The period was marked by extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death and even cannibalism and infanticide. The crisis set in motion the great economic collapse that began during the fourteenth century. In our arrogance, we seem to believe we have conquered every aspect of the planet and many argue we can even alter the climate of the planet.
The collapse from the Medieval Warm period was rapid, but also deadly. When the climate turned down, what followed was suddenly bitter cold winters and drenching rains which then froze. Europe had expanded as the society always does in warm periods. A study has shown that desert rodent populations of many species tend to "fluctuate synchronously owing to pulses of primary production and seed availability during rainy years, and reduced seed production during droughts" (PLOS 2013).
Apparently, they claim in a study by Thomas Frederikse et al, the weight of the extra water caused by all those melting glaciers and icecaps is so great that it is causing the sea bed to sink.
Alligators essentially allow themselves to be frozen in place with their noses just above the surface, according to a video posted on Facebook by Shallotte River Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach
The cold-blooded reptiles cannot generate their own body heat, but they can regulate it by changing their environment in a system called brumation. The creatures lower their body temperature and metabolism so they can survive.
Alligators essentially allow themselves to be frozen in place with their noses just above the surface, according to a video posted on Facebook by Shallotte River Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach
While it's hard to believe they are able to survive the icy conditions, animal experts say they are very much alive and doing okay.
Overnight winds of up to 125 miles per hour also meant there was significant damage to infrastructure on the course, notably at the finish area where tents and the stands were hit.
The snow has blocked all roads and the train leading to the resort in the southern Swiss canton of Valais, which was also hit by some power outages, head of the train station Janine Imesch said.
There are currently 'around 13,000 tourists at Zermatt,' she said, while the station website warned that 'arrivals and departures are not possible at the moment.'
The main access road has been closed since early yesterday, while the train was halted last night, she said.
Comment: See also this report concerning a similar situation at ski resorts in Italy and France: Heavy snowfall in Alpine regions leaves 30,000 skiers stranded
The east coast of the US continues to be ravaged by a freezing cold snap while the other side of the country has been hit by wildfires.
These are a signs of the times according to one professor, who says that the situation will only worsen in the next few years.
© Nick Moir
Fast-moving storms swept across Sydney this morning.
Fast-moving storms swept across Sydney this morning.
A heavy thunderstorm hit Sydney with more than 4600 lightning strikes between 3am and 6am this morning, leaving thousands without power after days of extreme heat.
The western and northwestern suburbs bore the brunt of the storm, with Blacktown particularly hard hit with tiles off roofs and trees brought down.
Comment: The Ocean Has Frozen Over in Massachusetts