Earth Changes

Black bear attacks man at Glacier View Ranch, Colorado

Tom McGhee
The Denver Post
Sun, 09 Jul 2017 09:47 UTC

Black bear

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is hoping to catch and euthanize a dangerous bear that attacked a 19-year-old staffer at Glacier View Ranch, a Christian retreat and conference center, early Sunday.

The teen was sleeping outside with other staffers when he awoke to a crunching sound.

He quickly realized "there was a bear biting his head," said Jennifer Churchill, a spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The animal attacked him at about 4 a.m., trying to drag him away from the group, Churchill said.

He reached up and began to hit the bear, and other staff members also attacked it. The bear left.

Update: Lightning deaths increase to 31 in a day across Bihar, India

Daily Sabah
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 09:40 UTC

At least 31 people have been killed and more than 10 others injured in the incidents of lightning strikes in India's eastern state in the last 24 hours, a disaster management body said Monday.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Bihar State Disaster Management Authority official Anirudh Kumar said: "31 deaths were reported from different districts of the state. Majority of the casualties took place in Rohtas, Vaishali, Patna, Buxor and Saran districts."

In a press release issued on Monday, the state government announced a compensation of $6,300 to the families of the victims.

Deaths due to rain-related incidents during monsoon period are common in India. Majority of those died were working on farms.

Comment: Earlier report: Lightning strikes kill at least 26 people in 24 hours across Bihar, India

Death toll climbs to 40 after floods in Assam, India

Prabin Kalita
Times of India
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 20:31 UTC

The death toll in the ongoing wave of flood in the state climbed to 40 as six more people died on Tuesday, while nearly 16 lakh other people remain affected as the surging water of Brahmaputra river and its tributaries brought 23 districts under water since Monday.

According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), among the six dead reported on Tuesday, two are in Jorhat district and one each from Chabua in Dibrugarh district, Dimow in Sivasagar district, Baghbar in Barpeta district and Kamrup (metro).

Nearly 50,000 people of 2,498 villages have left their homes and taken shelter in temporary relief camps set up in schools, government buildings and on embankments in 16 of the worst-hit districts.

According to ASDMA, 73% of Kaziranga National Park, that is bounded by Brahmaputra river on its north has inundated. The flood waters have also brought 129 anti-poaching camps for protecting the one-horned rhinoceros under water. The authority said that two female hog deer and one male swamp deer have died due to drowning in the northern range of the park.

Mount Vesuvius volcano engulfed in smoke as wildfires rage along its slopes in southern Italy

RT
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 21:18 UTC

A huge blaze has broken out on the slopes of Italy's Mount Vesuvius and near the city of Naples, prompting an evacuation of tourists and local residents for the second time in a week.

The huge pillars of smoke from fires raging through the forests on the slopes of Vesuvius rose to more than 2 kilometers up in the air and were also 2 kilometers wide at the top, AP reports. Clearly visible from Naples, the smoke deceived some people into believing that the volcano was erupting.

Is a monster solar minimum approaching?

David Archibald
What Up With That?
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC

This recent post was on the fact that the Sun's EUV emissions had fallen to solar minimum-like levels well ahead of solar minimum. The implication was that the Solar Cycle 24/25 minimum was either going to be very deep and prolonged, or that Solar Cycle 24 would be very short, which in turn would be strange for a weak cycle.

The indicator of the EUV flux is the Lyman alpha index. To recap, this chart shows the index over the last three cycles, starting from solar minimum:

Figure 1: Lyman alpha index Solar Cycles 22,23,24

Comment: Solar minimum: The sun is getting quieter, displaying some weird behavior

California's Mammoth Lakes area experienced more than 150 small earthquakes over past week

Gary Robbins
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 02:40 UTC

The historically restless Mammoth Lakes area has experienced more than 150 tiny and small earthquakes over the past week, including a magnitude 3.0 temblor that hit at 7:13 p.m. on Monday, says the USGS.

The series — which included a 3. 9 quake on Sunday — may be tied to the movement of magma in the nearby Long Valley caldera, said Susan Hough, a USGS seismologist.

"Adjustments to the the crust occur all of the time in that area," said Hough, who is familiar with the many faults that intersect the caldera in California's Eastern Sierra.

Video shows terrifying drive to escape British Colombia wildfire

RT
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 13:26 UTC

Evacuees escaping wildfires that have spread across swathes of British Columbia filmed their journey as they drove through roads engulfed by flames. Some 14,000 people have been evacuated as 220 active wildfires rage in the province.

"Oh my goodness, I would go fast," says the passenger in a video uploaded to Twitter by Sally Aitken. Flames billow on the roadside and smoke fills the air as they drive away from Hanceville.

"We drove through this fire last night on Hwy 20 - terrifying! Tall flames on both sides, black smoke, zero visibility for 10km," Aitken said.

Comment: An evacuation alert was also issued for the more than 10,000 residents of Williams Lake last night, with municipal officials warning wind and lightning forecast for tomorrow could push fires towards the city at a "rapid pace."

Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, says gusty winds and hot, dry conditions are expected to persist throughout the province over the next several days, meaning fire crews will not get a reprieve from the weather. He added "this is verging on unprecedented".

Strong and shallow M6.4 earthquake hits off Snare's Island, New Zealand

Joshua Nevett
Daily Star
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 09:11 UTC

A MASSIVE earthquake measuring magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale has struck off the south coast of New Zealand.

The huge quake struck around 200km off the coast of Auckland, south-west of Snare's Island, at a depth of around 10km, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Initially it was registered as magnitude 6.8 but was downgraded by GeoNet because it "confused our system a bit".

Shaking and a "long lasting rumble" were reported to have affected around 3,000 people in the cities of Invercargill and Dunedin.

Civil Defence NZ said there no tsunami warnings in place, writing on Twitter: "There is no tsunami threat to New Zealand following the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the Auckland Islands. #eqnz."

There are no immediate reports of deaths, injuries or damage to buildings.

Storms bring multiple waterspouts to North Carolina

13newsnow
Mon, 10 Jul 2017 17:53 UTC

Strong storms created several waterspouts in the Outer Banks on Monday.

Drew Pearson with Dare County Emergency Services tells 13News Now that at least three waterspouts were sighted: one in Colington Harbor, another off Kill Devil Hills, and a third in Kitty Hawk.

Pearson says there are some reports of blown off roof shingles, but no major damage has been reported at this time.

A Tornado Warning that was in effect for Dare County expired at 11:30 a.m.